Of Demons and Werewolves
by Astronomer Always
Summary: TITLE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. What if I told you werewolves were real, and threat they were the things of your worst nightmares?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first request fic from jameis. This is just a prologue, and the story will begin in the next chapter.**

* * *

What if I told you that there are things and creatures out there that live outside of folklore? Creatures that have been spoken of only as figments of our imagination?

What if I told you that they were real? Werewolves, vampires, demons and devils, and angels, all existing just as you and I, though this story is only concerned with two of those creatures.

They live among us completely undetected, the demons. They are not here to destroy us or take over the world. Their presence are to assure that other more sinister creatures don't crawl from the pits of hell raise it for all of you. And now you're thinking about everyone you know, trying to figure out which looks devilish. What do you think a devil looks like?

Horns?

A tail?

Claws?

Fangs?

Well, you'd be right.

With those sorts of features, and more that aren't mentioned, it seems like it would be easy to pick them out of crowd. It would be, if they couldn't suppress and hide them. It's easy, and they do it all the time.

They do it for our protection, and our well-being. They are not here to harm us or to cause mischief. They are here to guard us against the monsters from their world, and we should not fear them.

What you should fear are the werewolves. You know those people who say they're real? The one who say they've been cut or bitten by one?

They were probably right.

These are not the werewolves in folklore. No, these are much worse. You _want_ the werewolves to be like the ones you imagine in your nightmares. Those are tame and mild compared to the real thing. The real thing is the stuff of your most terrifying nightmares.

They're morbid, horrid looking things whose sole desire is to hunt and to kill.

But only at night of course. They can't risk being out in broad daylight.

So as long as you stay inside, you're safe. Besides, no one goes outside at night.

Right?


	2. Chapter 2

The TV flickered on and the obnoxious attempt to gain the viewers' attention, or those who just so happen to be passing the TV on their way to get breakfast played on the screen. A reporter, your stereotypical blonde haired, blue eyed female who as all too happy to show herself off on TV, was on the television. She straightened the stack of paper in front of her, which likely didn't hold any information at all, then turned to the screen and smiled.

"Good morning, Third Street," She said with her peppy voice. "This morning, there are several reports of property damage around town. The damage all seems to be connected, as the damage is all similar in that they all have claw marks. Yes, claw marks. Authorities say this is highly unusual, as wolves are not found in the area. Animal control has been called in to look for feral dogs as well as wolves. They have also issued a warning for the public. Stay out of the woods, stay inside at night, and travel in groups if you have to go outside at night."

"All this for a couple of loose dogs?" Spinelli scoffed as she shoved another spoonful of sugary cereal into her mouth. "People are such cowards."

It was probably just a few dogs who had broken out of their owner's yards, she thought. Nothing to be afraid of. Not that she was. Of course not. Besides, she had her bike to get away from any if she ran into any of them. She had other things to worry about, like passing today's math test. When she finished her cereal, he left the bowl in the sink and headed upstairs to get ready for school. In ten minutes flat, she brushed her teeth, out her hair into two low ponytails, put on an oversized red t-shirt and blue jean shorts, and was out the door with her book bag slug over her shoulder. As she got onto her bike, she looked down the street and found TJ coming down the street to meet up with her on their way to school. She hoped on her bike and caught up with him just as he rode past her house.

"Hey Spin," He said as they rode their bikes towards Third Street. "Ready for that math test?"

"I better be after staying up until 2 in the morning studying," She said with a yawn. "What about you?"

"I hope so. My grades are bad enough as it is," said TJ. "My mom said if didn't get at leas can't come to your sleepover this weekend. But I've studied, too."

"Let's just get there before we forget everything, right?" They laughed and continued on their way to school.

It didn't take long for them to reach the school. Already, students were gathered outside, talking and playing until they had to drag their feet into the building.

"Hey, Spinelli?" TJ asked.

"Huh?"

"Can we stop for a second?" He asked. "I have something I want to show you."

"Yeah, sure." The two of them pulled over on the sidewalk just one block away from the school. Spinelli watched as TJ reached into his pocket and pull out something. He held it up for her to see. A necklace, a fist shaped pendent with a red jewel (more than likely fake) inside hanging on a silver (also probably fake) chain. "Wow. Where'd you get it?"

"Out of one of those vending machine at stores. I was trying to get a marble, but I got this instead," He explained. "I'm not going to wear it, but it's in the shape of a fist, and you've been taking boxing lessons. Do you want it?"

"Yeah, I'll take it! It looks cool," Spinelli said. She turned around and moved her hair out of the way as TJ put the necklace around her neck. The chain was cool against her skin, but the warmth of the sun soon solved that problem. "Thanks, TJ. I usually hate jewelry, but the fist makes it awesome."

"No problem." Suddenly, the horrid sound of the school bell reminded them of where they were and where they had to go. "We better get going before we're late." Silently agreeing, Spinelli followed him on the rest of the way to school. After chaining their bikes, they raced each other to class, dodging the few stray students that probably weren't going to class anyways.

They slowed down as they reached the classroom, not wanting the target of Ms. Finsters wrath. Luckily, they still had a minute to spare.

"We thought you two weren't going to make it," Vince said as they walked past his desk to get to theirs. "What took you two so long? We saw you down the street."

"Nothin' much," said Spinelli. "Just this." She held the chain of the necklace by her thumb for everyone to see.

"Woah, nice necklace," Gus said. "Where'd you get it?"

"From this jerk over here," She said jokingly as she pointed to TJ. "He gave it to me, which is why we're almost late. Nice isn't it?"

"It looks like real ruby," Gretchen stated.

"Doubt it. I got it out of a vending machine. Who would put real jewelry in one of those things?"

A sudden bang echoed through the room. Students stopped talking amongst their friends and faced the front of the room where a very angry (As per usual) Ms. Finster stood behind her desk. But the fear students had for her paled in comparison to the fear they held for the pile of papers on the desk.

Their math test.

Those who were standing took their seats and accepted what they were about to do. Some are confident that they'll past the test with no problem (Gretchen), while the rest hoped that their score wouldn't bring down their grade low enough for their parents to be upset.

ODAW

Spinelli found that all her studying was paying off. The problems were easier to understand than she had expected, and she was blazing through it like a hot knife through butter, though there were a few that were particularly hard, like the one she was currently working on, but it was nothing that she was sure she couldn't handle. She erased the last few numbers she wrote down as she fingered the charm on her necklace. She had done this problem three times (THREE TIMES) and each time she just KNEW she was farther way from the answer than Pluto was from the Sun, which is saying something, considering Pluto was no longer a planet. What could she possibl—

"Oh wait," She thought. "I forgot to divide….."

She laughed at her silly mistake and started the problem over again. She looked to her left, Gretchen, of course, was already done and was reading some science book on some subject she probably didn't know how to pronounce. Then she looked to TJ on her left. He stayed up studying as long as she had, so she thought he would be finding this test as easy as she was, but that didn't seem to be the case. It didn't seem like he was focusing on the test though. It looked as if he was trying to work through a really bad headache. Spinelli noted that he looked considerable pale, too.

"Are you okay?" She silently mouthed to him. He saw and shook his head and went back to work (or trying to work).

It wasn't ten seconds later when he jumped out his seat, ran to the trash can, and threw up. And it was loud, too. Students winced at the disgusting sound.

"Detweiler, you okay?" Ms. Finster asked him. TJ let out a barely audible 'no' and she walked over to him and handed him a small sheet of paper. "Here, take this and go to the nurse's office. And take the trashcan with you." He took the paper and left the room, trashcan in hand. "Alright, shows over. Finish you test!"

And Spinelli did, confident that she would get an A. She made a mental note to go see TJ before she and the others went out to recess.

ODAW

"So what did you guys think of the test?" Gus asked they walked towards the lunch room. "I hope I wasn't the only one struggling through all the problems."

"I had a little bit of trouble, if it makes you feel any better," Spinelli said. "I thought all of us studied."

"I did study. That test had problems that I didn't know I didn't know to study for. All I can hope for now is that it doesn't lower my grade TOO bad."

"Don't feel too bad, Gus. I had trouble too," Vince said. "I swear Ms. Finster puts stuff on the test that she doesn't even teach! It's like she wants us to fail."

"Well if you did, try to suck up to your parents because I'm not celebrating my birthday by myself this weekend," Spinelli said. She pushed open the door to the lunch room and they got in the growing line of students eager to eat pizza.

"Speaking of which, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to come," Gretchen said. "My parents are concerned about the recent reports of rabid dogs. I'll try to convince them otherwise, but I can't make any promises."

"My parents gave me a cellphone before I left for school just in case," Said Mikey.

"What's the big deal? It probably just somebody's dogs that got loose. Nothing to be afraid of," Spinelli said after they all sat down to eat. "Watch, they'll find them before the day is over."  
"Are you guys talking about the dog attacks on the news?" Hustler Kid asked as he passed their table. "I went outside his morning and my bike was trashed! Completely destroyed! And that's bad for business 'cause I have orders to pick up."

"My dad's car has claw marks on the doors," said Vince. "I've never seen him so angry."

As other students spoke up with their own claims of property damage, Spinelli scoffed and finished her lunch. When did everyone become such pansies? Was she the only one left in this town with enough courage to not be afraid of some stray dogs? Whatever. She wasn't afraid, and wasn't ever going to afraid of some dogs.

As for Hustler Kids bike, some kid probably got upset after a bad sale and trashed it.

"You guys keep being scared of a bunch of puppies," She said standing up. "I'm going to the nurses office to check on TJ." No one seemed to notice her leave, which she expect since the whole lunch room was now joining the conversation. She left the others behind, the difference in noise level between the lunch room and the hallways being only a bit disturbing. She walked down the hall, took a left, and found the door to the nurse's office wide open. She peaked in and saw TJ lying on the nurse's bed, jacket lying on the chair next to the bed and the nurse making a phone call.

"Hey, Teej," She said coming into the room. "What'd the nurse say?"

"Oh, hey Spinelli," He said facing her. "The nurse said it's just a 24-hour bug or something. She's calling my mom to come pick me up. But I feel fine now. I don't need to go home."

"Never heard of a kid who wanted to stay in school."

"Yeah, but I'd rather finish that test NOW and not tomorrow," He said, smiling at her. "So, what's going on with the others? Am I missing anything?"

"Everyone's talking about those loose dogs," She said, sitting on the bed. As she mentioned the dogs, the smile fell from TJ's face, but she didn't notice. "A bunch of wimps, all of them."

"I dunno. I think they might be really dangerous," He told her. "Can't hurt to be careful, you know?"

"Not you too…."

"I just don't want anyone getting hurt," He defended. "You HAVE to agree on that."

"Maybe. I should get back to the others before they realize I'm missing and blame that on the dogs, too," Spinelli said. She stood up and playfully ruffled his hair. "I'll see you tomorrow, Teej."

"You too, Spin."

ODAW

Spinelli found the rest of the gang, as well as the school, standing outside. Why were they standing around and not playing, she thought. This is the one time of the day they get to act like kids and they're STANDING of all things.

"What are you all standing around for?" She asked. She pushed and shoved her way to the front where the other were. "What's going on?"

"What's going on? Look at the jungle gym!"

And she looked. And she saw.

Ol' Rusty was covered in claw marks imbedded in the metal. There wasn't a spot where you could look where there was no claw marks. It was quite a sight to see really, especially after they saved it from being demolished last year. This time, it looked like they wouldn't be able to save it. It needed to be replaced after this much damage.

"A dog couldn't have done all this," She said.

"You're right. A dog couldn't have," Gretchen said. She knelt down next to the cheese box and ran her fingers over the claw marks. "Dogs have three toes, with the occasional dog having a genetic mutation that gives them an extra. But this is five. And they're huge! They're bigger than adult hands. There aren't dogs big enough to make these."

"What if it's….a werewolf?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"Oh, please. Werewolves?" Spinelli scoffs. "I'd rather be afraid of the dogs. You people have gone crazy. Werewolves aren't real!"

"It's not like you have a better answer," said Ashley A. Spinelli resisted the urge to punch her in the mouth right then and there.

"Actually I do. If it's not a dog, then this is some big prank somebody's playing on the whole town," She explained. "I bet who did it is laughing at everyone right now. In fact, it could've been a whole group trying to freak us out."

"A prank?"

"Hey yeah! This sounds like something Dewtweiler would do."

"You all are kidding right? I don't care enough about scaring you all to do all this." The entire crowd opened and TJ walked to the front. "Besides, Halloweens not for months. This isn't my handiwork. Probably a bunch of high school students."

"I thought you said your mom was on her way to take you home," Spinelli asked him.

"I managed to convince her that I was alright to stay, but I have to go straight home after school," He said. "Everyone, listen to Spinelli. She's the only one in this crowd making any sense. I bet that they find who did this tomorrow, you'll see. Then we'll all have a good laugh about all this."

And then school bell rang. Everyone groaned at the loss of their recess and began to march back into the school, upset that they didn't get to play.

**Ugh. I hated how this chapter ended. **

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

There are only a few things in Spinelli's world that she did not want others to interrupt. Number one being her boxing practice. She fought her mother tooth and nail to sign up for those lessons, and she didn't want anyone to run in to the gym and pulling her away to do anything unless someone was dying or the world was ending. Number two being any future plans, be they two minutes or two years from now. When she has her mind set on something, it was going to happen, one way or another

Number three was her sleep, and it was currently being disrupted. She threw the covers off her (and the bed) and let out a furious huff. She wanted to sleep, dammit! Was sleep on school night to much to ask for? She looked over at her alarm clock. 2 am. 2 in the morning. Still enough time to get sleep before returning to the hell that is elementary school. But the noise coming from outside her window didn't seem to want her to sleep.

'Well then,' she thought. 'That's just going to have to stop.'

Spinelli got out of bed and grabbed the aluminum baseball bat that she kept under her bed. The noise was coming from outside, and from the sounds, near the trashcans. That meant that was those stupid dogs everyone was fusing about, and that they were in the trash. She didn't feel like cleaning up the mess in the morning before school. She made her way down the stairs quietly so that she wouldn't wake her parents. She then walked into the kitchen since she could see the trashcans from the window over the sink. She looked outside, but, unfortunately, the sound began to lessen, and whatever was causing it left.

'Should've left earlier,' She mumbled. 'Now I'm wide awake.' Angry, she walked back upstairs and into her room, dropping her baseball bat on the floor. She crawled (literally crawled) back into bed, and cursed who or what had the nerve to wake her up again before it was time for school.

ODAW

_"Good morning Third Street. Continuing yesterday's report of property damage around town are even more reports. This time, the damage is much more severe, and there were also reports of sightings of what can only be described as 'creatures' causing the damage. We have one of the witnesses right here."_

_ "It was huge! It had to have been at least nine, no ten feet tall! And strong! It flipped my car over! And I had paid so much for that car….It didn't see me, but it ran like a bat out of hell! Someone needs to take care of this! I'm not letting my kid go to school until those things are gone! Call the army! Call SOMEBODY!"_

"Lucky kid. Doesn't have to go to school," Spinelli said as she ate her cereal. Her parents were paying close attention to the small TV they had in the kitchen, and she was paying attention to the homework she neglected to do last night. She yawned. This guy on the news was probably one of those people who wore tinfoil hats. Crazies.

"Alright, I'm off to school now," She said walking out of the kitchen. "Try not to get 'eaten' by the big bad dogs while I'm gone."

"Hold it right there, young lady," Her mother said. "There's no way I'm letting you go out there with those….whatever those things are out there!"

"You're going to let me stay home?" She asked eagerly.

"No. I'm going to drive you to school. Come on, we need to get moving before all the other parents get out on the road."

ODAW

After the event at school yesterday, Spinelli came to school expecting things to be much, much worse. And she was right to prepare. Before school even began, there was a crowd of students so thick, she couldn't see what they were surrounding.

"What's going on, now?" Spinelli asked the others as she approached.

"A couple students came in with scars like claw marks," Vince told her. "Everyone's panicking."

"Where's Gus and Mikey?"

"Their parents kept them at home today," said TJ. "A bunch of kids didn't come in today. Why didn't they just cancel school if things were getting this bad?"

"Because they're all a bunch of idiots," someone from the crowd yelled.

"I saw one of them! I saw one of those….THINGS!" Everyone turned to who spoke up this time. It was Randall. His clothes were torn and tattered, and he was out of breath from running. "I saw one near the abandoned playground! It was huge! It had to be ten feet tall! And whoever said it was a werewolf was right!"

"If you need me, I'll be inside, AWAY from the insanity that is suddenly Third Street," Spinelli said. She walked past the crowd and went into the school. She felt like she was the only one left with any common sense. She just wanted to get through the school day, go to her boxing lessons, then go home, but all of those looked like they were going to be filled with people talking about the same thing.

"Hey Spinelli! Wait up!" Sighing, Spinelli turned around to see TJ catching up to her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. Minus the fact that everyone's gone crazy," She said, folding her arms. "It bad enough when everyone thought it was dogs, but now its werewolves! Can you believe that, Teej?"

"Nope. I have no idea where they're getting that from," He laughed.

"At least there's one other person in this town that agrees with me," She said. "What are they gonna do next? Point at each other and accuse them of being a werewolf?"

"I feel bad for those kids who got scratched. They're gonna get it the worst," TJ said. "Hey, you're not wearing that necklace I gave you."

"It's at home, on my dresser."

"…Oh. I thought you would wear it every day…"

"It's just a little plastic necklace, Teej. No reason to get upset over it," Spinelli said. "Besides, I didn't wear it today because we have a physical fitness test today in gym. I'm gonna wear it tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot that was today…."

The bell rang, and the sound of every student rushing to get to class after spending their entire time outside. Luckily for them, they were already in front of their classroom, and only had to walk two feet forwards to avoid being stampeded. And they did, then turned around to see students rushing to their seats.

ODAW

` "As many as you all already know, todays the day of the physical fitness test," The coach announced proudly. The class didn't share his enthusiasm (except Vince), and let out a collective whine. "By the time you're all done, there won't be enough strength left in your bodies to cause any trouble. That is, if you not physically fit, which is unfortunately most of you. Now, I want everyone standing on the line of the basketball court."

All the students reluctantly stood on the line at the top of the court. A few of them hoped that by some small chance that the test wouldn't actually involve much physical exertion, while the others hoped that it would be over with soon.

"Now this test will measure your durability. You all will run to the halfway point, then back to where you stand, until you can no longer keep up. The key is to pace yourselves, not run like your lives depend on it. You'll start off with thirty seconds for each run, and slowly, that time will decrease. Once you're out, you're out. And don't try to act like you can't keep up when you can. I've had this job for years, and I know how to spot fakers. Alright?"

"Vince, if you go as fast as we KNOW you can, we're not going to be your friends anymore," Gretchen whispered to him.

"Relax. I'm not going to run as fast. I'm going to pace like Coach said to," Vince told her. "You all should be able to keep up."

"On you mark, get set, GO!"

Everyone ran (read: jogged) to the middle line, and back. It was easy at first, and then the pace increased. One by one, the Coach called students to stop running and stand next to the court. They were lucky, as it became harder to keep up with the limited time. The amount of time given to them went down, and so did the number of students who were able to keep running. Within three minutes, the number was down to 7, including Vince, TJ, Spinelli, Gordy, Ashley B., Hustler Kid, and Swinger Girl, and it continued to drop.

First Swinger Girl was called out,

Then Gordy, then Hustler Kid, and then Ashley B.

And then Spinelli was called to stand out. She didn't expect to last as long as she did, but was happy to stop. Out of breath she made her way over to the group before sitting on the floor next to Gretchen.

"How was it?" Gretchen asked her.

"Hard," She breathed out. "I didn't know I was going to last that long. The boxing lessons probably helped."

"Have you decided to enter the junior tournament?" Gretchen asked her.

"Yeah, but it's gonna be cancelled because everyone scared of those things around town," Spinelli said. "How long do you think Vince is gonna last?"

"A couple more minutes at the least," She told her. "I'm more surprised TJ's lasting this long. He's about as fast as you, normally."

"Yeah, that IS a little weird."

Meanwhile on the basketball court, Vince was beginning to feel the pangs of exhaustion, which was fine, because normal day to day playing usually didn't bring him to the point of exhaustion. No, this whole exam or test or whatever it was called was good for a growing athlete such as himself. And he had company too.

But he didn't know whether or not to be happy about that.

"Didn't know you have it in you to keep up with me, Teej," Vince said.

"Me neither," TJ said. "But competition is a good thing, right?"

"Sure," He said. "Ready?"

"LaSalle," The coach yelled. "You're out!"

"What?!" Vince, shocked that his name was called, tripped over his own feet and hit the floor, hard. "What do you mean 'I'm out'?"

"I mean you're out. You can't keep up," The coach told him. "Get off the court and stand with everyone else."

Vince clenched his fists and, after looking back at TJ who was still running on the court, walked over to the others.

"Can you believe that? The coach called me out! Me!" Vince said, folding his arms. "He must be crazy."

"You still did better than the rest of us," Spinelli said. "What? Can't handle getting beat at your own game for once?"

"I have no problem with losing," He said, catching his breath. "It just never happens." He sat on the floor with them and looked at TJ as he kept going. "How is he still going? I was already out of breath when I was called out!"

"You can ask him when he stops, whenever that'll be," said Spinelli. "I wanna know, too."

They, as well as the rest of the class, watched him for a few more minutes until the Coach blew his whistle, signaling for him to stop.

"You can stop now, Detweiler," The Coach said. "You've reached the timing limit. Congratulations. Everyone over to the ropes!"

"How are you not out of breath?" Gretchen asked when TJ joined them. They and the class began to walk towards the two most dreaded things in the gym: the two ropes hanging from the ceiling.

"I'm gifted?" He tried.

"Yeah right," Vince mumbled under his breath.

"We can only go two at a time," the Coach said. "This is to test physical strength. Who wants to go first?"

"I will, Coach!" Vince said, stepping in front of one of the ropes.

"He's only doing this for his own ego," said Spinelli. "Don't let it get too or we won't be able to fit in the room."

"We have one. We still need one more volunteer," Said the coach.

"….I'll go," TJ said. He stepped up and stood next to Vince and in front of the other rope. The kids left standing around them gave a collective 'OOHHH'.

"All you have to do, if get to the top as fast as you can, and ring the bell," The Coach instructed. "It's not a race, so pace yourselves. I don't need anyone getting rope burn. On your mark, get set, go!" The two of them jumped onto the rope and began to climb. The crowd below began to cheer, rooting for one or the other to get to the top. They were still reeling from Vince, the, now-supposedly, best athlete of the school was beaten, and wanted to see if it would and could happen again. It looked like it would be a tie at first. Neither boys were able to get a ahead for the first half, but then….

"I'm impressed that you're able to climb rope after that run," Vince said as he gripped the rope after pulling himself up. "But I think you're pushing your luck, TJ." No response. He opened his eyes and found that he was alone. Then the bell above him was rung. He looked up just as the crowd below gave a collective gasp. Above him at the top of the rope, TJ was looking down at him and the crowd.

"Did you say something, Vince?" TJ asked after he climbed back down to Vince's height. "I couldn't hear you up there."

"How did you get up there so fast?" Vince angrily asked. "How did you get up there before me?!"

"LaSalle, what's the matter?" The Coach yelled up at him.

"Nothing, Coach."

"Then keep moving! Detweiler, get down so someone else can go!"

Vince held in the urge to yell out his frustrations, and he climbed up as TJ climbed down. About two thirds of the way down, which was still quite the distance above the floor, he let go of the rope and opted to jump to the bottom out of his own curiosity. He didn't stumble or fall and break anything. Instead, he landed on his feet. Of course, he had to bend his knees like anyone would, but the jump didn't appear to hurt. He walked over to the rest of his classmates as Gordy stepped up to the rope and began to climb. He stared at his feet as he walked, and when he looked up, found everyone staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

"How did you do that?" Spinelli asked, just as surprised as the rest.

"….I don't know."

ODAW

"Well, Vince is off to restore what remains of his ego," Spinelli said. She sat at the steps of the school door with Gretchen and TJ as the rest of the student enjoyed their recess. "Looks like it's just the three of us."

"Two," Gretchen corrected from behind a very big book she was reading.

"Two?" Spinelli asked. "What happened to TJ?"

"He said he was going to the library."

"What's he doing in the library?" she asked. "You don't mind if I….?"

"No, go right ahead," Gretchen assured her. "It's give me time to do some research on what's been happening around town.

"Thanks," She said as she went inside the school. Nearly everyone was outside, save for a few teachers and the pale kids, making the halls eerily quiet. It wasn't a creepy 'school should never be this quiet' you find when you go inside school at night quiet, but more like 'so this is what the school is like without people in it' quiet. After walking a path she wasn't too familiar with, Spinelli found herself in front of the two door leading into the school library. Inside, the walls were covered in book shelves, and she didn't know where to begin her search, but it looked like she would be able to get some help.

"Hey Library Kid," She said approaching the bookworm where she sat on an oversized beanbag chair.

"Hello, Spinelli. I haven't seen you or your friends in a while," She said without looking up from her book.

"Yeah speaking of which, did TJ pass through here? Gretchen said he was going to be in here."

"He went into the row at the end of the left wall. I haven't been down that row yet," She said. "It's dark down there, so I gave him a flashlight."

"Thanks, Library Kid," She said before walking down the column of bookshelves. The lights became increasingly dimmer until there couldn't be more than one struggling to stay on able her head. When she reached the end, she saw a flashlight shining through a few bookshelves. There, she found TJ sitting on the floor with is back against the wall and a book in his lap. He didn't notice he was being watched until Spinelli walked up to him.

"What'sha readin'?" She asked sitting down next to him. "Another Barnaby Boys book?"

"Nothing," TJ said. He closed the book at sat it on the floor, away enough so Spinelli couldn't see the title. "It's nothing. Today's physical exam was crazy, wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was," She agreed. "What was with you today? When did you become faster than Vince?"

"I have no idea," He said. "I'm thinking it was just a one-time thing. How's Vince handling things?"

"He's running laps outside so he can 'catch up' to you. It doesn't help that people keep comin' up to him and asking how it feels to be beaten for once."

"I hope he's not mad at me."

"He's not mad at you, Teej. He just wants to beat you."

"Right. Typical Vince. Maybe he's just having an off day and everyone's overreacting. At least I hope that's what's going on. There's enough weird things happening around town."

"Speaking of which, I think one of those 'things' was in my backyard last night," Spinelli told him. "It woke me up in the middle of the night."

"What? Did you see it? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I'm fine, TJ. I said I think I saw one, think. It was gone by the time I went downstairs to get a better look."

"I wonder what they're going to do about it. Somebody is gonna get hurt if they don't."

"I just wish everyone would stop going crazy over it. Werewolves? Really?"

"…..Yeah, crazy."

The bell rang, and their conversation was ended. They picked themselves off the dusty floor and dust themselves off. While Spinelli wasn't looking, TJ picked up his book and hid it under is jacket.

"Ready to go?" He asked walking up to her.

"I'll never be ready to back to class," She said. "But we don't have a choice, do we?"

"Nope." They laughed and said goodbye to the library kid as they left.

**We get some action in the next chapter, everyone! I can't wait to write it!**

**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm going to try writing this chapter in Spinelli's POV. If it goes well, I'm going to try and write the most of the rest of the story in her POV, emphasis on try.. Please tell me if you think she's out of character at all.**

**Read On!**

If I don't get any sleep tonight, someone is gonna pay for it. The noise is coming from outside again, and, just like last night, it's happening when people should be asleep, like I was doing two minutes ago.

It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon, so I forced myself out of bed to see what all this noise was about. It wasn't like the noise from last night. This noise was louder, and sounded more like cheering than growling and trashcans crashing. I looked out the window to see if I can see anything. Everyone's standing in front of their houses, cheering at something coming from down the street. I stepped away from the window and grabbed my jacket on my way out the room. This had better be good.

I stepped outside the front door and saw that mom and dad were already outside. I yawned, and the cheering of the crowd got louder. I looked down the street just like everyone else was.

Five of those THINGS came running down the street. Whatever those things are, they're huge! I was wrong, those are definitely not dogs. But _why_ is everyone outside with those things running around? Then I heard an engine. Not a car engine, but something smaller. Someone rode down the street from where those things came from on a motorbike. It has to be a kid, 'cause whoever is on that bike is too small to be any older than 12. The kid steered the bike with one hand while holding a metal pipe in the other. The crowd cheered again as that kid rode his bike up to one of those things and hit it over the head. The kid chased it and the rest of them down the street until they couldn't be seen anymore.

"Ashley, what are you doing out here," My mom said after she finally noticed that I was outside. "You get back into bed right now! It's dangerous outside."

"I'm going, I'm going," I said as I went back inside. I went back into my room and looked out the window to see if that kid could still be seen. Nope, he's long gone. I bet I know what everyone is going to be talking about tomorrow. Soon, all the excitement wore off and I was tired again. I tossed my jacket on the floor and crawled back into bed. I'll be excited about what just happened when the up is up.

ODAW

_"Good Morning Third Street. Today, we have some interesting news. Last night, 911 Operators received multiple calls claiming that those mysterious creatures that have been plaguing Third Street was freely running around in masse last night. However, those reports also came with someone chasing those creatures out of their neighborhood. No one was able to describe the odd savior, as he or she wore a cloak that blocked any view of their face. But that doesn't mean residents are upset. Rather, they seem to be happy that this mysterious vigilante is taking care of those strange creatures that have been wreaking havoc. Stay tuned, because later, we have testimony from a resident who saw it happen in front of their own eyes._

_ "Meanwhile, good news for the children of Third Street. Due to the increasing sightings, school has been cancelled city wide, until further notice. Officials say this is to avoid injury to children, as the creatures appear to be increasing in numbers. Officials have also asked people to stay indoors, and only to go outside if it is absolutely necessary."_

"Yes! No school!" I cheered from my seat on the couch. How could I not? No school! And who knows how long until we have to go back!

"What's this I hear about no school?" Dad called form the kitchen.

"There's no school today," I said as I walked into the kitchen. "And there won't be until they say it's safe to go outside."

"I bet you're happy," He said.

"Of course I am! I'm gonna go call everyone and tell 'em if they haven't heard."

"Hold right there, young lady," My mom said right as a started to run to the phone. "You have a project due Friday, and you're going to get started on it today."

"But we're probably not gonna have school on Friday!"

"It's still going to be due when you get back. You're not going to be staying up the night before working on it," She said. "I know about you staying up until two just for a math test."

"I passed that test," I mumbled under my breath.

"If you had spent the weekend studying, you wouldn't have needed to stay up all night," She said. "As soon as you're done calling your friends, you get right to work."

"This is supposed to be a break," I said, taking the phone into my room. "Whatever. All I gotta do is finish it fast, and then I'll have the rest of the time all to myself. Now, who to call first?" That's a good question. No use calling Gretchen right way. I know she watches the news every morning 'cause she wants to. Not like me. I'm forced to 'cause my parents get to the TV before me each morning. And Gus's dad makes him watch the news no matter what, so he probably knows already. Forget it, I'll call TJ and let him know.

I have his number on speed dial, so all I have to do is press five. The phone rang two times before someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey TJ. Did you hear the good news?"

"What good nes?" He yawned.

"About school being cancelled. It's cancelled 'until further notice' because of those things running around town."

"Really, that's great," He said. "But my parents weren't gonna lemme go to school anyways….."

"Oh. Did you see those things running down the street? And the kid that was chasing them?"

"Yeah, I saw it. How do you know it was a kid? Did you get a good look?"

"Whoever it is was too small to be an adult."

"Then you got a better view than I did. By the time I looked, they were gone already."

"You should've seen it, Teej. They were riding a motorbike and he rode up to one of those things and hit it over the head like it was nothing. Then he chased them out of the neighborhood. I wonder who that kid was. DO you think he goes to our school? We should try to find out who it is."

"Sounds nice. Hey Spin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm tired. I only got to sleep an hour ago, so if you don't mind….?"

"Oh, sure. I'll call you later. I gotta all the others anyway."

"Thanks. Talk to you later."

ODAW

I yawned as I finished the last bit of the picture for my art project. It was the picture of the whole gang, and it took me the whole day to draw. Since its 10 PM it's dark outside now. Guess it WAS a good thing that I worked on this early. I wouldn't be able to get this done overnight. I'll color it tomorrow, just to let the whole picture set in my head to check for mistakes.

But I have to finish first. I only have to do the darkest lines over myself and TJ. I saved us for fast because were at the bottom of the page and didn't want to do us first and have the picture smudges when I reached to do everyone else. It took me five times to get my picture right, and I still think I did it wrong. I used a photo as a reference, but I still think I look to 'pretty', but I'm tired, and I want to get this done and go to sleep. Do I really look like that?

It only takes me a couple of minutes to do the final line art for myself, and only a couple more to finish TJ's picture, but I had trouble with the number of freckles he has. I closed my sketch book and pushed it away from me. I don't want to see that thing until tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm starting to think about how long it'll take until we could go back. If it's a really long time, then they'll have to take days from our summer vacation, according to Gretchen. I hope she's wrong, but it's Gretchen. When's the last time she's been wrong?

I twirled the pendent on the necklace that TJ gave me. He made such a big deal about me not wearing it, which I still don't get. He acts like it cost him a month's allowance. It couldn't have cost more than a quarter. It's a cool looking necklace, though. I wonder if I can find a pair of matching earrings to go with it…

Something tapped against my window and I blew it off as a tree branch scratching against it. It kept happening and it became annoying so I opened the window the break the branch but then I found what was really tapping against the window.

That kid, the one that chased those things out of the neighborhood was standing on the branch like he wasn't _two stories_ above the ground. He made it look so casual. He wasn't even holding on to the tree for balance. And just like last night, he was wearing only black, and had on a hoodie that blocked the view of his face.

"…Hi?" I said. He didn't say anything, but held his hand out to me. Does he want me to take it? I started to reach for it, but then he pointed behind me. "What? What are pointing to?" Again, he didn't say anything, but he did pull at his hoodie. "Do you mean my jacket?" He nodded. I picked it up and put it on, and when I turned around, he was holding his hand out to me again. I reached for it, and when I finally grabbed it, he started to pull me out the window. He pulled until I was standing on the branch with him. I was gonna ask him what he was doing here, but he picked me up and jumped down the bench. He didn't fall, ship, or drop me. Nope. He just starting carrying me like I was nothing. "I can walk on my own, you know."

He hesitated for a moment, but he put me back on my feet. We were still in my backyard, but mom and dad couldn't see us out here. Good thing, too. They'd flip. He started to walk away, but he stopped to gesture for me to flow him.

I must be crazy 'cause I followed him out of my backyard and to the sidewalk where his motorbike was parked. He walked up to it, then turned back to face me while holding out a helmet in his hands.

"Am I supposed to take this?" I asked. He nodded and pushed it into my hands. I looked at it. It was mostly black, but it had red and orange flames around the front. I looked back at him and he was sitting on the bike like he was waiting for me to get on. "Are you trying to get me to come with you?" He nodded. "I don't even know who you are! And you were chasing those things last night! I'm not going with you if you're going to be chasing them!" He shook his head and held his hands up in defense. "You're not gonna do that?" He shook his head. "Then what's this all about? You're just trying to go out for a ride with a total stranger?" He nodded again.

Who was this kid? He has some nerve showing up in front of my window and taking me out here. I outta knock him out for that.

"If my parent notice I'm missing I'm get in trouble," I said, folding my arms. "If they find out I've been with you, I'll be grounded until I'm 30. But….that's only if I get caught. You better not let me get caught." He nodded. "Fine," I said, putting on the helmet. "I'm coming but you better not try anything funny." He helped me onto the bike and made sure that I had my arms wrapped around him. Then he turned the bike on and we were riding down the street.

I really want one of these bikes. Am I gonna get one? Nope. It took forever to convince mom to let me take the boxing lessons. Maybe if I ask dad and save up my allowance, I could get one.

In five years.

He drove his bike through the city. The streets were mostly empty, and I guess he took that as a sign that it was okay to speed up, because that's exactly what he did. The buildings look bigger at night.

He drove until we were on the edge of town and then he kept on driving. Just where is he taking me?

"Where are we going?" I asked him. He didn't answer, but I think I heard him laugh. He pointed to the town we were headed to. He sped up again, and only slowed down when he pulled into a parking lot. He didn't stop where the other cars were, he parked in front of a metal door on the back of the building. "Where are we?"

We both got off the bike and he signaled for me to follow him inside the metal door. Well, I already came this far. Might as well keep going. I followed him up a few flight of stairs until we hit another metal door. He pushed it open and I took the helmet off when I walked through. I couldn't see for a few steps, but could tell that I was walk on metal. As I kept walking, I could hear cheering. By the time I could see light, it's when it's shining down on a wrestling stadium. We're in the rafters above it and the whole audience.

"You bought me to a wrestling match?" I asked the kid. He nodded and led the way until we were standing right above the ring. "This is amazing! I didn't even know they were having this tonight! How'd you know I like wrestling?" He shrugged and sat on the floor with his legs over the edges, and I did the same.

This is a great view. I spent the entire time cheering and eating the popcorn the kid got for the both of us. After the wrestling match was over, it was past midnight. He took me home, but he drove slower than the speed he drove us the first time. He pulled up the sidewalk next to my house and I gave him his helmet back.

"Thanks for taking me to the match, and out of nowhere, too," I said. "Now how am I getting inside my house without getting caught? I don't know about you, but I can't just walk through the front door." He got his bike and started to walk back into my backyard. I followed, and he stopped in front of the tree in front of my window. Then he picked me up just like before, and jumped (_JUMPED) _to the tree until we were in in front of my window.

"What are you?" I asked him. "Some sort of superhero or something?" He didn't say anything and put me back on my feet. He helped me to get back into my room, and I turned to thank him again, but he was gone. Where did he go? But he left something on my window. I picked it up and unfolded it. It was a T-Shirt from the wrestling match. It's even autographed!

Tonight was awesome, even if it was with some kid I don't know. I wonder if I'll see him again.


	5. Chapter 5

Spinelli lay in her bed and held out the t-shirt that that kid gave her last night. She would wear it now, but then her parents would ask where she got it from, and she couldn't tell them.

'Oh, I got it at this t-shirt at a wrestling match I went to last night after sneaking out with that kid who chased those things out of the neighborhood last night. I rode on his motorbike to the next town over. By the way, can I have a motorbike?'

Yeah, right. Like that would go by well.

Now, a part of her wanted to be able to go to school again to try and find out who that kid was. But what if they didn't go to the same school? It made a little bit of sense to fight those things in another neighborhood or town instead of your own to avoid getting caught. Whoever it was, she owed him for taking her out there last night.

She wondered if she would see him again. She should, those things are still out there, and people _want_ him around if he chased them away. But would he come to her window and take her out again?

"Ugh," she cringed. "I sound like and Ashley."

Turning onto her side, she stuffed the t-shirt under between the mattresses. She didn't want it to be found by her parents. She'd show it off at school, yeah, but she wouldn't be able to do that if it was taken away from her.

She pushed herself up and out of bed and headed downstairs to get breakfast. A nice big bowl of the sugariest cereal would wake her up fast enough. She went into the kitchen, ignoring the news that was on TV, and reached into the cabinet and grabbed the first thing inside. When she had a whole bowl, she went back into her room.

What was she going to do today? She couldn't go over to anyone's house, her parents wouldn't let her go anywhere with that warning to stay inside at all costs.

"But that didn't stop me from sneaking out with that kid last night," She said to herself. "I guess I could work on that picture, but I really don't want to…" She took the last bite and sat the bowl on the floor. "Some break," She said as she laid back on her bed. "It's no fun when you can't hang out with your friends or do anything.

"Guess I'll finish that picture to kill time," She said. She pushed himself off the bed and walked over to her desk. "I wonder if that kid will come back tonight…." She pulled out a 94-count box of Crayola crayons and began to pick out the colors she knew she would need. Hour passed, and the picture came together with vibrant colors popping off the paper. She only stopped to eat and crack her knuckles. When she finished, she looked up at her clock to find it was 10:30 at night.

She stood out of her seat and walked over to the window. That kid wasn't standing on the tree branch like yesterday. Maybe he wasn't going to come. But then, she was him walking down the street, metal pipe in hand. What happened to his motorbike? She would ride it as often as she could if she had one. She wanted to ask him for herself, but that would require her to sneak out, and she knew he parents were downstairs watching TV. She couldn't just stroll out the door. They'll catch her before she reaches the door. That only left going out her window and climbing down the tree. She knew she could do it, could being the key word. There was still a chance of her being hurt, but it was the only way she was going to get out to see him.

Throwing caution to the wind, Spinelli put on her jacket and opened the window. She climbed onto the branched until she reached the tree. She climbed down in time to see that kid walk right out sight. She jogged up to the sidewalk to catch up with him, but found that he turned down the street. This time she ran to catch up.

"Hey!" She yelled as she turned a corner. That kid turned around quick and held up that pipe as if he was going to hit her. When he saw who it was, he put the pipe down. "I saw you walk past my house a minute ago." He only shrugged his shoulders. "Where's your motorbike? That thing is awesome!" Again, he didn't give her a vocal answer. She made a mental note to stop expecting him to give her one. Whoever this kid was, they obviously didn't want anyone to figure out who they were. "So, uh, I was wondering if I could come with you. I wanna see what you do."

The kid looked like he was thinking before nodding and taking her hand and walking with her.

"You could've just said yes," Spinelli mumbled. "You could've just said anything."

They walk like that for a while, the only sound between them being their footsteps. The neighborhood was quiet, making it seem like those things haven't come and turned everything upside down.

"Hey," Spinelli said. She stopped walking, forcing the kid to stop with her. She pointed to the house directly across the street from them. "That's Gretchen's house! It looks like she's still up. Do you think we can go see her?" He didn't answer, but it looked like he was looking at her strangely. "Please? She's a friend of mine, and I haven't seen her in days 'cause of those things running around." He sighed (and made a noise for the first time) and crossed the street. Without any warning, he picked her up and put her on his back and began to climb the tree that was the closest to Gretchen's window. Spinelli wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he casually walked over to her window on a branch. When they were close enough, Spinelli reached out and knocked on the window. She heard papers ruffling before the window was opened.

"Spinelli? What are you doing here?" Gretchen asked, surprised. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I'm guessing it's around 11," Spinelli said. "Look who I'm with!"

"Y-you're that kid who chased those things away! Spinelli, what are you doing with him?" She asked, surprised. "How do you even know him?!"

"He came to my window last night," Spinelli told her. "Can I come in?" Gretchen nodded and moved so she could climb through the window. The kid help her climb from the branch to the room. "Can he come in, too?"

"If my parents find out he's in here, I'm going to be grounded until I get an F!"

"He won't get caught, promise. I've snuck out twice with him and parents don't suspect a thing!"

"Fine, he can come in, but be quiet, my parents are asleep."

"She said you can come in," Spinelli said to the kid. He stepped in through the window and jumped down to the floor.

"What's your name?" Gretchen asked him.

"Good luck getting an answer out of him. He wouldn't say anything last night, and he still won't talk now," said Spinelli.

"Last night? What did you do with him last night?"

"Oh nothing. He just snuck me out and took me over to the next town to a wrestling match on his motorbike," Spinelli said. "Nothing much."

"Are you crazy?" Gretchen whispered to her. "You don't know who he is, and you let him take you out of town?"

"Yeah, and it was fun. He got me a T-Shirt signed by one of the wrestlers," Spinelli told her. "He's alright, I swear!" The two girls looked at the hooded kid who was looking over Gretchen's inventions and books. He stopped in front of her desk, where a rather large black and red book was laying. He ran his fingers over the title-less cover. It was old, and the cover made of leather.

"Occult," He said for the first time. His voice was deep, far deeper than any kids voice should be.

"I thought you said he didn't talk," Gretchen said.

"He didn't. This is the first time he ever said anything."

"Occult," He repeated turning to them.

"Y-yeah, that book _is _about the Occult," Gretchen said. The book flipped through the pages as she walked over to him. "I was trying to do research on those things plaguing the town, but I keep running into this. Even still, it doesn't have much on this. Mostly mythologies. Do you know anything?"

"Dangerous," He said. "You need to stop."

"Stop what? Researching?"

"Yes," He said. He shut the book and tucked it under his arm. "Stop." He walked past the both of them and climbed back out the window. He crouched on the branch, waiting for Spinelli.

"At least you got him to talk," Spinelli said.

"It took me forever to find that book," Gretchen told her. "Do you think you can get it back for me?"

"I'll try, but I'm not going to promise anything. I think he only listens to me when it's convenient for him. I'll try my best though."

"Thanks."

"No problem," She said. "I better go before he leaves me behind."

"Be careful. I still don't trust him." Spinelli nodded and walked over to the window. The kid held his hand out for her and she held it as she climbed out the window. She waved goodbye to Gretchen as he carried her back to the ground.

"Any reason you took her book?" Spinelli asked him. "She said it took her forever to find. Gretchen takes her research seriously. She's not the sort of person who's research you should get in the way of."

"Occult," He said patting the book. "Dangerous subject. She doesn't know what she's getting into."

"And you do?"

"Yes," He said. "Anything else?"

"No, not really. It's about time you started talking, though," She said as they walked down the street. "So you're not going to give her the book back?"

"No."

A loud crash ahead of them interrupted their conversation. The kid held his arm in front of her, as if to protect her from whatever could pop out of the darkness. He held his pipe up, ready to strike. It came in handy, as one of those beasts came running from behind the house they were standing in front of. The beast stopped when it stopped the pair and stalked over to them. It easily towered over them at over ten feet tall. Thick saliva oozed from its mouth, and it long, sharp fangs and claws was more than terrifying. All Spinelli wanted to do was run, but the kid must've sensed that and held her wrist so she couldn't. Was he crazy? This thing looked like it could easily kill them both.

Quicker than her eyes could see, he swung his pipe and hit the beast on his head. He did it again, and again, until it looked like it wasn't going to get back up. He turned and carried her on his back and ran like a bat out of hell. It didn't take long for him to reach Spinelli's house. He pointed at her window for her to go back inside. He didn't wait for an answer, and ran back down the street, leaving her standing in her back yard. Not wanting to see that thing up close anytime soon, she climbed up the tree and through her window, and locked it.

* * *

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

***looks around* Is anyone enjoying this story? I hope so. Sorry updates can't be more frequent. Lot of my attention is going to a book I'm writing, but don't fret. This fic is like a getaway. I think I know how I want this story to go, or at least, the gist of it. I'm open to idea's at this point though, especially for the romantic aspect. I never wrote for this pairing before.**

**But this chapter is **_**way **_**longer than I expected, so enjoy!**

**Read On!**

* * *

_MONDAY_

The week ended, the another week passed, and Spinelli hadn't seen that mysterious kid since she followed him. Every night at 10:30, she would look out her window, expecting him to either be standing on the branch outside her window or walking down the street, but no. He wasn't there, and she didn't see him anymore. After what happened the last time they were out, she hoped he was okay.

In other news, the sightings of those beasts had decreased to the point that they weren't seen at all. It was because of this that officials had brought school back into session, bring us to our current point in time. Spinelli was packing her backpack angry at the idea of going back to school today. She slung it over her shoulder and walked out the door. At least she got two weeks off of school without being sick. It was fun while it lasted.

While she was upset that she had to go to school, but at the same time, she was happy that she could see her friends again. She unchained her bike, hopped on her bike and began to ride to school.

When she arrive, most kids were already there and waiting for the bell to ring to go inside. She chained up her bike and found her friends standing near the steps.

"Hey, guys," She said when she went over.

"Hey, Spinelli. How was your two weeks?" Gretchen asked. Now, under any other circumstance, the question would have been a relatively easy one to answer. However, with a certain event taking place with the two of them and a mysterious kid, Spinelli found herself trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy her and the rest of the gang.

"It was alright, I guess. Nothing exciting happened," She said. "What about you guys?"

"Same here. My parents wouldn't even let me go outside in the day to practice," Vince complained. "Hope I'm not getting rusty."

"I took this opportunity to get ahead in my school work," said Gretchen.

"I spent my time perfecting a collection of poetry I forgot I had written," said Mikey.

"My dad thought it would be a good idea to show me what training in the military was like, by actually making me do some of the exercises," Gus said. "I have bruises everywhere…."

"At least you guys did something. I was stuck in bed upchucking everything I ate," TJ said. "My mom took me to the hospital twice last week…."

"You're okay though right? I mean, you've been really sick lately," Spinelli said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Doctor said it was probably nothing," He said. They all went into their classroom, and found that half the students were not there.

"Where is everyone?"

"Probably at home. A lot of parents might still think it's unsafe," Gretchen said as he sat down at her desk. "Still, I'd rather school be open. Any longer and we would have to make up for the missed time by extending into summer vacation." Every student within earshot shuttered at the thought. Soon the bell rang and everyone took their seats.

The lesson began fairly boring enough, only being interrupted by some brave-yet-stupid soul who thought it would be a good idea to speak in Ms. Finster's class. Said student was now standing in front of the class with their arms held out with two heavy textbooks in both hands, a nightmare for any student.

The class went on as usual with no interruptions. That is, until a bang echoed throughout the room. Everyone looked around for the source, except TJ, whose head was laying his desk as the source of the bang.

Now, if Spinelli had her way, she would've poked him with a pencil and woke him up before Ms. Finster noticed. That's what any good friend would do, and she considered herself be a decent friend. But there was no time for that as Ms. Finster approached his desk. With an overly long ruler, she slammed it on his desk, making everyone jump in their seat and TJ wake up instantly.

"Have a nice nap, Detweiler?" She asked venomously.

"…Uh…I…..uh…"

"Fall asleep in my class one more time and you'll be standing in the corner holding books up just like Gordon!" She warned. He quickly nodded and she returned to the front of the class to continue the lesson. He stretched and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up.

TUESDAY

Spinelli knew something was going to happen the moment she stepped into the school. She couldn't tell what it was, but she kept an eye open for anything unusual. The day went by normally, and she was beginning to think that maybe she was overreacting because of everything that had been happening in the last few weeks, and she left it at that as recess began and the rules for a game of kickball she and the others were about to play were being made.

"Since recess is cut in half, this game has to go faster. To do this, it is my order that the pitch make no trick throws," King Freddy said. "And if they do, then they'll be sent to the dodgeball wall!" The crowd waiting to play let out an audible groan, and one of his assistants whispered something in his ear. "What? Too extreme? Alright, fine. Then you'll get taken out of the game. Now get to playing!"

And that's how it went for the most of the time. The scores between the two teams stayed in a tie, frustrating both teams. Currently, Spinelli was sitting on the bench next to Gretchen while the others were on the field or in the crowd cheering on one team or the others.

"So, Spinelli, did that kid come by last night?" Gretchen asked while typing into Galileo.

"No. He hasn't been back since the time I came to your house," Spinelli said.

"Any chance of getting that book back?"

"Probably not. He said no when I asked and said that you needed to stop looking into things," She said. "Can't you just find another one?"

"It took me forever to find THAT one, and I'm sure it's the only copy within a 200 mile radius."

"I tried my best," Spinelli offered. "Look, if I see him again, I'll ask. I'm just surprised that he talked."

"Be careful, I still have no reason to trust him—"

"HEY!" Their conversation was interrupted by someone on the field yelling. They both turned to the field where TJ was marching up to Lawson who was standing that the pitcher's mound. "What's your problem?!"

"I dunno what you're talking about, Detweiler," Lawson said, brushing him off. "Get back to your plate so we can finish the game."

"You're not supposed to make trick throws! And that was the widest toss I've ever seen in my life!"

"Yeah, right. That was the cleanest shot in the whole game! You're just mad 'cause you missed such an easy shot-"

Then TJ's fist connected with Lawson's nose and he fell to the ground. He didn't have time to get back on his feet before his face was being hit by punches over and over again. He could feel his left cheekbone crack on impact. A crowd gathered around them, and by the time Spinelli and Gretchen made their way over, TJ was being pulled off of Lawson, who was profusely bleeding through his nose.

"DETWEILER!" Everyone froze as Ms. Finster's yell cut through the crowd. "What do you think you're doing?!" She didn't get an answer from him. Instead, he seethed in his own rage. "Lawson, go to the nurses office!" She told him before she dragged TJ off to the principal's office.

"Your friend is a lunatic," Lawson said before walking off. He held a hand over his bleeding nose.

"What was that all about?" Spinelli asked.

"I dunno. I was tying my shoes and when I looked up all I saw was a fight," said Gus. "Do you think he's gonna get suspended?"

"Probably. Did you see what he did to Lawson's nose? It was bent out of place," Vince said. The bell rang

_ODAW_

As it turned out, Lawson had to go to the hospital. Word spread around fast, and those whose name was not Spinelli, Vince, Gretchen, Gus, or Mikey either stayed away from TJ or avoid him altogether. TJ on the other hand couldn't be asked to care, not answering questions that were being asked.

Which was why Spinelli was resorting to yelling at him.

"EARTH TO TJ!" She yelled at him as they walked towards their homes. "HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?"

"You don't have to yell," He said. "I'm right here."

"You could've fooled me. I've been calling your name for the last ten minutes," She said. He simply shrugged his shoulders. "So what was all that about today? I mean, I want to beat Lawson up just about every day, but that's just it. I'm usually the one who gets into fights, and you broke his nose!" Again, he only shrugged as a response. She didn't know whether or not to be worried. It wasn't like him to be this quiet over anything. "Hey, are you okay?" She put a hand on his shoulder to help get his attention. They stopped waling and faced each other, and she was met with the coldest pair of eyes she'd ever looked into. His eyes looked right through her.

"I'm fine," He said before walking towards his house. "I'll see you later, Spin."

"Weird," She said before heading to her own house.

WEDNESDAY

Unsatisfied with the lack of an answer they received yesterday, Spinelli and the others continued to ask TJ why he beat the crap out of Lawson the previous day, though it was mostly done by Spinelli as he only responded (responding being looking at her) to her. As for everyone else, he acted as if he didn't hear them or wasn't aware of their presence, which was fine for everyone outside of their group. With Lawson coming into school with a cast on his nose and his mouth wired shut due to a broken cheekbone (an injury that takes a ton of force to inflict), students mostly avoided him, meaning they avoided the entire group. Which brings us to the current point in time. It was lunch time, and the group was sitting at their usual tables, though it was a bit strange with the surrounding tables being empty. At this point, they were simply trying to get is attention, which was somewhat difficult as he didn't seem to be on the same planet as they were.

At the moment, Spinelli was poking him with her fork.

"What?" He asked, taking to them for the first time. He took the fork out of her hand and placed it on the table. "Why are you poking me?"

"To get your attention," said Spinelli.

"We've been trying to talk to you all day," said Vince. "Everything okay, man?"

"Yeah. Everything's dandy," He said, taking a bite out his sandwich. "It's all sunshine and rainbows….."

"So are you going to apologize to Lawson?" Mikey asked him.

"No," he scoffed at the suggestion.

"But you broke his cheekbone!" Said Gretchen. "He's not able to eat solid food for the next two months!"

"That sucks since tomorrow's pizza day," He said. "I'm not apologizing." He pushed his tray away from him and rested his head on the table.

At that point, they've pretty much given up on trying to get any sort of answer out of him, at least for the rest of the day. When lunch was over, everyone when outside onto the playground. Instead of most students rushing to play on old Rusty, they all seemed to be running towards the abandoned playground.

"I wonder what's going on," said Gus.

"We should probably go see," Gretchen said.

"Can we not?" TJ asked.

"No. We're going to go see and you're coming, too," Spinelli said. She pulled him along as they followed the other students. "You've been actin' weird this week."

"I told you I'm fine," He said folding his arms. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you guys."

When they reached the abandoned playground, they found a crowd forming a circle around Mundy and his friends, who was looking as if they were waiting for everyone to arrive.

"'Kay, I think everyone's here, so I can start," Mundy said, getting everyone attention. "I've decided to be really generous today, and by that, I mean I'm going to give someone in this crowd two-hundred dollars." To prove his point, Mundy reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of money. Ohh's and ahh's went through the crowd at the sight of so much money. "But whoever wants it has to do me a little favor."

"Like what?" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"Oh, nothing much. Just drink something for me." He snapped his fingers and one of his friends handed him a small black plastic bag. First, he pulled out a glass cup and set it on an old lunch table nearby. Then, he reached into the bag again and pulled out a small blood bag.

"What is that?" Vince asked, obviously grossed out.

"Nothing but a little dog blood," Said Mundy. The crowd let out a collective and loud 'EWW'. "Whoever drinks it, gets two-hundred dollars from me."

"He's nuts if he thinks anyone would do that," Spinelli said. Everyone seem to agree. Some students left the sense and went back to the playground, others stayed to see if anyone would step up and actually do it. "How did you even get that stuff?"

"My mom's vet," Mundy answered. "Snatched the keys to her clinic when she wasn't looking and stole it. As for the money, I saved all this up, JUST to see if someone does it. If someone does, then it'll be worth every penny."

"I'll do it," TJ said.

"And I have a volunteer!" Mundy announced.

"TJ, are you insane?" Gretchen asked him. "That stuff if going to make you sick!"

"I know what I'm doing," He said. As he walked over to the table, Mundy cut open the bag with a pair of scissors and poured the contents into the glass.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Mundy asked him. TJ glared at him before picking up the glass.

"So what, do I have to drink _all _of it?"

"Yep."

"Is there like a time limit, or….?"

"Nope."

"And you'll give me two hundred dollars? 'Cause if you're lying I'm going to be upset, and you might end up like Lawson."

"Yeah, two hundred dollars" Mundy huffed and followed his arms. "Are you gonna do it or are you gonna keep stalling?" TJ glared at him and swirled the blood around in the cup. He waited a few minutes, and it was becoming obvious that Mundy was losing his patience. He looked at the crowd. Half of them looked like they were on the edge of their metaphorical seats while the other half didn't believe he was going to do it.

Then he put the glass to his lips and began to drink. It didn't take long, only about two minutes or three until it was all gone. With the last gulp, he slammed the glass back down on the table and looked at Mundy, who looked like he was about to lose his lunch.

"You're sick!" Mundy yelled. Feeling the food in his stomach coming up, he tossed the money on the table and ran to the nearest bush, letting everything out. Casually, as if he didn't just drink a cup full of animal blood, TJ picked the wad of money off the table and counted it. Like Mundy said, it was two hundred dollars.

"What?" he asked, noticing the entire crowd's stares of disbelief. Shrugging, he walked away and towards the playground. About halfway there, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned around to see who it was and was met by Spinelli and the others.

"What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Nothing," He said.

"_Nothing_? You just drank a whole cup of dog blood!" Spinelli yelled.

"I know. I actually feel better now," He said. "And I'm two hundred dollars richer. It's a win-win situation, really. But, uh, yeah, I'm fine." He waited for an answer, but when there was none, he kept walking away. Not knowing how to respond to that, they left him alone for the rest of the day, silently agreeing to ask questions tomorrow when the shock wore off.

THURSDAY

As it turned out, it was just as difficult to talk to him today as it was yesterday. It might've even been more so, as he acted as if the events that took place yesterday didn't happen at all. At the moment, TJ was sitting on the cold (metaphorically cold, it was actually warm this time of year) concrete with his back against the school and his eyes closed while the others were sitting in the cheese box, questioning his sanity after yesterday's events.

While the others talked amongst themselves, Spinelli kept a lookout for anything _else_ strange happening today. This had very extremely strange, so much so that she was starting to think that she had entered the Twilight Zone some time ago. As she watched, she saw TJ stand up, stretch, and head towards the abandoned playground. She decided to follow, leaving the others to talk about whatever they were talking about.

She kept her distance to avoid getting caught, and didn't say a thing. She followed as he walked through the bushes and through the trees until he reached the abandoned playground. She kneeled down until she was sure she couldn't be seen. She watched as he stopped and looked around, checking between the old equipment. She watched as he looked around one more time before reach up and grabbing his hat. She watched as he took his hat off.

She also watched as a pair of horns grown of out his forehead. She with, now with her hand over her mouth and eye almost bugging out of her head, as he rubbed the area around those horns and paced. She blinked, and then blinked again and again and again. She had to be seeing things, that was the only excuse for what she was seeing. There was no way that he has _horns_ coming out of his head. Nope. No way. She stood up out of the bushes, making them rustle and gaining TJ's attention. He turned around fast at the sound and looked more than shocked at her presence.

"Spinelli?" He asked. She didn't say a thing. Instead, she stepped out of the bushes and slowly made her way over to him. She reached out with one hand, and right as she approached him, he took a few steps back. That didn't stop her tough, as she kept walking forward. When she was close enough, she touched those horns, hoping that they would be fake. They just had to be. Kids just don't grow horns!

But they didn't feel like plastic. She wrapped a hand around one, and he flinched.

"…What….?" She asked in a choked whisper.

"I can explain," He said. He pried her hand off. "Just don't panic."

"_WHY DO YOU HAVE HORNS?"_ She shouted.

"Calm down! I said I would explain!" He said. "But you have to be quiet."

"You have _horns! Freakin' horns!_"

"Yes, Spinelli," He sighed. "I have horns. Will you please calm down before anyone else shows up?"

"How am I supposed to act, TJ? What am I supposed to think when I find out my friend is some sort of monster?"

"Why would you call me that? I'm not a monster!"

"Then what are you?" Spinelli asked. "'Cause I'm pretty sure humans don't have _horns?_"

"...You're not going to like it," He said.

"This whole month has been crazy," She said, folding her arms. "Try me."

"I'm a Demon," He said quietly. "An Incubus. I thought the horns were a dead giveaway….I guess you would've had to see everything, but I'm sure you still would've called me a monster…."

"…._everything?_"

"Well yeah. I have fangs, too."

"You have FANGS?" TJ nodded and opened his mouth for her to see. Where his canine teeth would have been were a pair of sharp inch long fangs on the top and half long fangs on the bottom.

"You do have fangs," She said as she leaned against the closest tree. "You have horns and fangs….."

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" He asked. "This is sort of a secret, if you couldn't already tell."

"How can I tell anyone when I almost can't believe it?" She snapped. "But I still have questions! And you're going to answer them!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. I'll come over your house tonight." Then the bell rang. He put on his hat, and those features disappeared. They walked back towards the school, trying to pretend like nothing happened.


	7. Chapter 7

For the rest of the day, Spinelli sent glances at TJ as this new information about him sunk into her brain despite every ounce of logic fighting against it. TJ went back to being unusually quiet and ignoring everyone for no observable reason, but Spinelli knew. She knew that under that trademark hat was a pair of horns, and in that too quiet mouth was were two set of fangs that were not supposed to be there. She kept glancing at the clock. The sooner school was over, the sooner she could get home, and the sooner she could ask him the million and one questions going through her hand.

ODAW

The group walked home together, slowly dwindling down as they each reached their homes and said their goodbyes. Soon it dwindled down to just Spinelli and TJ.

"Are we going over to your house or mine?" Spinelli asked.

"Yours. I'll come over later," He said when they reached his house. "I have to go…do some stuff." Without saying goodbye, he walked up the steps to his house and went inside. Huffing, Spinelli added more questions to that growing list to ask him.

She went home, said hello to her parents as she pasted them on the way to her room, and tossed her bookbag in the corner of her already messy room. Ms. Finster have been giving them a ton of homework (more so than usual) to make up for the time missed. While she knew it would be best to get started on it before she would have to stay up all night to finish it, but she had other things on her mind.

Like the fact that TJ had _fucking horns and fangs to match_ (while she controlled her language in front of others, she let her French run rampant in her head). Since when did he have those?! He went without his hat plenty of times before and they weren't there then! Her head was beginning to hurt with all these questions going through her head. He tossed then aside, sure that they would all pop up again when he came over later. So she waited until then.

And she waited, and waited. She waited until the sun went down, she waited as she ate dinner, and she waited after the news came on. It became obvious that he wasn't going to show up when dinner was over, and she was just about ready to pull her hair out from the frustration.

Then there was a knock on her window. She pushed herself off of her bed and walked over, expecting that kid to be standing on the branch like he used to. Spinelli opened the window, and found the person she had been waiting for standing on the branch, donned in those familiar black clothes another person she had been hanging with two weeks ago. At this point she wasn't even going to waste being surprised.

"Hey," He greeted nervously. "Can I, uh, come in?"

"When you said you would be over here later, I thought you meant like in a hour," She said as she let him climb in. "Not at _11 pm!"_

"Oh. Sorry about that," He said. "So can I take my hat off or are you still freaked out about this whole thing? I mean, I can keep it on, but it sort of hurts wearing it…"

"Take it off. I want to see the horns again." He nodded and took off his hat. A few seconds passed as he clutched the hat in his hands, and then a pair of horns grew out of his forehead and twisted as it wrapped around the sides of his head. She reached and touched them both from the base to the sharp tip. "Do you mind explaining this to me?" He shrugged.

"I already told you I'm a Incubus," He said, taking a seat on her bed. "And I have fangs."

"But I don't get that. You went around without your hat before and you didn't have those things then!"

"That's 'cause I didn't _have _these then. They just came in three weeks ago," Said TJ. Spinelli locked her bedroom door and sat on the bed next to him. "The fangs dropped last week."

"Does that have anything to do with you being quiet this week?"

"Yeah," He said nodding. "My regular teeth are a little sharper, too. I'm sure you guys would've noticed and I would've ended up biting my tongue and lip." Just now, Spinelli was beginning to notice a slight lisp in his speech. Again, she reached up and touched the horn on her side. She wrapped her hand around it and gave it a little tug. In response, TJ closed his eyes and flinched.

"Can these break?" She asked.

"Yeah but that would be bad," He said. "I would bleed out and probably die." She released it at learning about that. He laughed. "It's okay, you can touch them if you want. I don't think you're strong enough to break it, just don't pull to hard!"

"What happens if I pull too hard?"

"It'll hurt," He said. "And I might attack you out of instinct, so try not to pull to hard."

"Okay, you have horns and fangs," She said. "Anything else?"

"My eyes should be red," he said. "Are they?" Spinelli looked and, lo and behold, his 'blue' eyes were now an eerie red.

"Yeah, they are."

"And, um…I have a tail…"

"A _tail_?"

"But I'm supposed to have three….."

"I wanna see."

TJ reached behind him and put his hand just under his jacket. He pulled his hand back out, now holding a thin tail. Once it was all out, Spinelli saw that it was red, and the tip was like a trident. Carefully she grabbed it and saw that it felt like really worn in leather. She was about to let go, until the tail began to wrap around her wrist.

"Can you let go…?" She asked, pulling her arm away, but the tail not letting go.

"Sorry," He said. He unwinded it by hand. "I can't control it yet. It sort of have a mind of it's own."

"How do you hide all of this? Lemme guess, your hat is magic?"

"It is, actually," He said. "It hides everything, but um, it's not strong enough to hide everything. Even with it on, my tail still shows, but that's easy to hide under my clothes. I'm gonna have to get another one soon."

"Anything else? Hooves? Claws? Wings maybe?" She asked only half serious

"I don't get wings for another six months, but I'm _really_ not looking forward to that," he said matter of factly. "My back was killing me when this _one_ tail came I, and I still have two more coming in. Imagine a set of _wings _growing out of my back. I won't be able to walk when they grow in….as for claws….I may or may not get those. No hooves, though. Incubi don't get hooves. Anything else?"

"I feel like I've entered the twilight zone," Spinelli said, leaning back against the wall. "Why now? Why do have…_all this…_now?"

"Puberty."

"….right…wait, is that why you're faster and stronger than Vince all of a sudden."

"Yep. But that's only temporary because this hat is so weak….when I get a new one, I'll go back to normal…as normal as I can be at the moment….and Vince will have his ego restored," He said. "Anymore?"

"….that's all I can think of right now."

"Alright," He said standing up. He walked over to the window and opened it. "Wanna go for a ride? I have my motorbike!"

"Where would we go? Another wrestling match?"

"I dunno. We could just ride around. The streets are empty right now," said TJ. "Well?"

"Okay, but like I said before, don't try anything funny!"

"Why, I'm hurt, Spin," He said teasingly. He pulled the hood over his head and climbed out the window. He held and hand out for her and she took it as she climbed out. "Don't you trust me? You must if you're coming."

"Just help me down." He picked her up and jumped straight to the bottom. He put her back on her feet and they walked out of her backyard and to the sidewalk where his motorbike was parked. He got on and handed her the same helmet she wore before. She got on, and he turned on the bike, and they were off down the street.

Spinelli soon found that he was right, and no one was on the room. She tightened her grip on him as she felt the motorbike speed up.

"So Spinelli, can I asked you a favor?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Can you keep this whole me being Incubus between us? I never intended for anyone to find out," He told her. "If word gets out about this, I'm going to have to leave. Can you imagine if the _government_ or _scientists_ found out that demons were real? I'm not trying to become an experiment…."

"But shouldn't we tell the others?"

"NO! Listen, you guys are really good friends, you really are, but I do not trust _all_ of you guys to keep a secret this big. If I did, I would've told you guys from the beginning. Remember the kissing incident and how the _entire playground_ found out because everyone couldn't keep their mouths shut? I mean, it's bad enough that _you_ found out," He said. "DO NOT tell them, Spinelli! I've never been more serious about anything in my life!"

"Alright, alright! I get it! Don't tell anyone," She said. He turned off the street and onto a dirt road leading into the woods. He brightened the headlight and speed up, smoothly swerving to avoid the occasional rock and tree. Soon, they were riding up a hill, and Spinelli could see the moon over the hill. When the trail evened out, he slowed down. He stopped the bike once they were on top of the hill and parked it next to a tree. He and Spinelli got off, and she took her helmet off to get a better view. She followed him to the edge and saw that they were standing over the lake where the gang went to skip rocks. The moon was full, and so big that she thought she could touch it if she reached up high enough.

"Never been up here," She said to herself.

"I come up here sometimes," He said. "It's quiet and it helps me think and come up with those plans you guys like so much."

"Yeah, I can see why," She mumbled. They both sat down to enjoy the view. Spinelli turned view those 'demonic' features of his. It was still weird to see on him, and the shock was only now beginning to wear off, but, strangely enough, it fit him.

"It looks like it belongs on you," She said while toying with her necklace.

"Huh?"

"The fangs and the horns and the eyes, it looks right on you, Teej," she said. "I mean, I's still weird, but it looks like it's supposed to be on you."

"Oh. Thanks," TJ said. "You know, you're taking this way better than I thought you would."

"Yeah, well, the most troublemaking kid on the playground being a demon isn't that much of a stretch now that I think about it….hey, um, is there any reason you gave me this necklace? Like is it magic too?"

"I hate that word, 'magic'….yeah. It's real ruby and silver. Those DemiWolves running around _hate_ silver and ruby and that necklace has both. It's like protection. They won't come anywhere near you while you're wearing it."

"Thanks. You think you can get more for the others?"

"Can't. I only had that one. Besides, most people have some form of silver in their house…"

"So those things….?"

"Are from the same place I'm from, Hell."

"_Hell is a real place?" _He nodded.

"Not like the Christian Hell, it's only associated by name. It's actually a really nice place. Hot, but nice. And really good food."

"I'm probably driving you nuts with all these questions, but what's an Incubus?"

"It's okay. It's a type of demon that feeds off affection or love. You guys make actually make living easy 'cause of all the free food you've been giving me all these years. I haven't one hungry once! 'Cept a few days ago with the dog blood, but I needed the extra energy. And that one time the group broke up last year. That was torture."

"I was about to ask about the blood, 'cause that was just _nasty, _Teej." He shrugged.

"I had to do it. I was starving, and you guys weren't helping with all your questioning! It didn't taste bad, though."

"Gross. So, what's it take to keep you full?"

"Nothing much. Just keep doing what you guys are doing now. I'll need more than that when I'm older, but uh, I'll deal with that when I get there. Hey, Spinelli?"

"Yeah?"

"You remember that kissing incident?" She nodded. "W-what did you think about it? Did you really hate it?" She sighed and tugged at her necklace.

"Can you keep a secret?" He gave her look that said _are you kidding me_ before she continued. "Duh, of course you can. I guess it was okay. It wasn't gross like I thought it would be, but I had a reputation to maintain so I acted like it was. Why?"

"That whole kiss was like a buffet for me. I never ate so much until that one time," He said. "And that sort of matters because I can only feed on affection that's _already there_. I can't walk up to some kid and expect to eat because they probably don't care. And I think I might need more to get by 'cause I've been getting hungrier _sooner_ even with you guys around."

"So what, are you asking me to kiss you whenever you're hungry?"

"I-if you don't mind…..I understand if you say no, but I'm going to have to find a blood bank nearby. It's not my first choice, but if there was nothing else to eat then I would HAVE to…"

"I think I'd rather kiss you than know you're drinking blood, TJ," She said. "How is this gonna work?"

"I'll tell you when I'm hungry, we find a way to sneak off, we kiss, and then we come back. Not complicated at all."

"Great plan, but about when the guys start suspecting something when they notice we keep missing?"

"They won't, I promise. I'll think of something. But we should be heading back, it's past midnight, and I have to look around for those monsters." They both stood up and walked back over to his motorbike. Spinelli put on her helmet, and TJ turned it on, and they went rushing down the hill and out of the woods. It didn't take long for them to reach her house.

"One more question," She said as she got of the bike. "Where's that pipe you've been carrying around."

"It's off being sharpened. I'm gonna go pick it up when I leave here."

"….how do you sharpen a _pipe?_"

"When it's not really a pipe. It's a sword, but you can't see it 'cause of this illusion over it. I'll show you one day, you'll like it." She took of her helmet and handed to him. "You can keep it. You're the only one that uses it anyways. Are you gonna need help getting back into your room?"

"Nah, I can handle it. But thanks for taking me up there, and the awesome ride."

"No problem. You should get back inside before someone spots us." She nodded and ran over to the tree that stood next to her window. She climbed it, and walked on the branch closest to her room. Once she was inside, she looked and saw him riding down the street. He waved and she waved back. Spinelli looked at the helmet in her hands. The design was awesome, she had to admit. Almost as if it was made for her. Probably was. It wouldn't come as a shock as if it was. She set it down on her desk and closed her window. Looking at the clock she saw that it was 12 am, way too late to take a shower without her mom asking a million questions why she did take it earlier. Instead, she changed into her pajamas and jumped into bed.

* * *

Wow, I got this chapter done faster than I thought I would.

Reviews are highly appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Spinelli didn't know what to expect. With the week being filled with a new level of craziness, it wasn't much of a surprise, but she was thankful it was Friday, letting it be the only day of the week she had to pretend that everything was normal and that one of her friends wasn't a Demon sent from Hell.

Even saying that in her head didn't make any sense.

As she reached the school on her bike, she spotted the rest of the gang already sitting on the steps. She locked up her bike, and then let out a heavy sigh before making her way over. She knew today was going to be long no matter how she went about it. She spotted TJ first, not paying much attention to what was going on around him and ignoring the multitude of questions being thrown his way. When he stopped her, he smiled a bit and waved. This caused the others to look up at her and wave as well.

"Hey, guys," She said as she walked up to them. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much, just same weird stuff that's been happening all week," Vince said. "And the cold shoulder we've been getting from TJ. Think you can get him to talk?"

"Uh, sure. I'll try," She said. She walked past him and sat down on the steps next to him. "How's everything going, Teej?"

"M'tired," He mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said I'm tired," He repeated. "I was up until three last night."

"Why were you up that late?"

"I'll tell you later," he said just as the bell rang. They stood up and walked with the rest of the group into the school. About halfway to their class, Gretchen pulled Spinelli aside.

"Thanks for getting my book back for me," Gretchen said. "That kid left that book my windowsill and I found when I woke up this morning."

"No problem. Didn't think he was going to give it back either," she said. "He looked like he really wanted to keep it."

"Good thing he didn't. I'm pretty sure that book is one of a kind," Gretchen said as they walked into their classroom. "I tried to find another one but I couldn't. If I never got that back, I don't want to think about the fee I would have to pay the library for it…."

"It's just a book," Spinelli said, taking her seat. "What's so special about it?"

"It has information about those Things that were running around town," said Gretchen. Spinelli noticed TJ visibly flitch at the mention of them. Because of the close proximity of their desk, she heard him humming (or growling, she was more willing to say that it was growling after last night). She poked him to get his attention.

"What?" He asked.

"You're growling," She whispered. "You might wanna stop before more people notice."

"Right," he said. The growling stopped and he faced the front of the class again just as the bell rang.

During class, she kept an eye on him when his head bobbed when he began to nod off. He would usually wake up on his own then, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. If not, then Spinelli waked him up by poking him (hard) in the arm. It was a miracle Ms. Finster hadn't noticed this, but not so much that the rest of the gang had.

When the bell rang for recess, she watched as TJ walked ahead of the group. She figured that he was heading the abandoned playground, and that she should be going there too.

"You would think that he was mad at us or something," She heard Vince say. "Did you find anything out, Spinelli?"

"Nothing much," She lied.

"This is starting to sound a lot like the Menlo's birthday incident," Gretchen said.

"Maybe he needs some space," Spinelli said as they finally reached the playground. They all looked around and TJ was nowhere in sight.

"Yeah, we all need a little time to relax every now and then," Mikey said.

"But then why couldn't he say that instead of avoiding us?" Vince asked.

"You don't think that TJ doesn't want to be our friend anymore," Gus suggested.

"Oh, c'mon! It's probably nothing! I bet Mikey's right about the whole needing space thing!" Spinelli said. If she could she would give herself a pat on the back for her acting. She was doing a better job than she thought she would. "I'm gonna go look and ask him. He said he would tell me something later anyways."

ODAW

When she double checked that they weren't following her, Spinelli made a beeline for the abandoned playground. This must've been serious if he didn't give her any sort of warning. When she reached the abandoned playground, she found that it was empty with no sign of TJ anywhere. To make sure she checked under to crumbling slide, but saw that nothing was under there except a small mud puddle.

"Wonder where he is," She said to herself. Maybe he went further into the woods. She was about to go see, but a voice from behind stopped her.

"Hey, Spin."

She turned, and was face to face with TJ, who has hanging upside down from a nearby tree. He held his cap in his hand, letting his horns, red eyes, and fangs appear. At the corner of her eye, Spinelli saw his tail waving.

"You could've given me some kind of warning you were coming here!" She said, folding her arms.

"I couldn't wait. My head was killing me in class," He said. "I'm thinking about ditching school today 'cause of it. I don't know if I can stand wearing this hat for the rest of the day."

"You know, when I get a headache, sleeping is the last thing on my mind," Spinelli said. She jumped up and grabbed the branch he was hanging from. She pulled herself up and sat next to him. "Why were up so late?"

"After I took you home I did patrol around the neighborhood and found a bunch of Wolves walking around," He said. "I didn't expect to find any. I got away and everything, but they got a couple of good hits in…would've got away sooner if I had a weapon."

"What do you mean by a 'couple of good hits'?"

"It's nothing—"

"No offense, but if there's anything I learned this week, it's that if _you_ say it's nothing, then it's _something _big," said Spinelli. "Tell me."

"Okay, but don't freak out," He said. He swung himself until he was sitting on the branch upright. He took off his jacket and laid it over the branch. He then took off his shirt, showing bandages wrapped around his chest, abdomen, and his left shoulder. He began to unwounded the bandaging, balling it up as he went. A little over a minute later, the bandages were removed. Exposed on his chest were three claw marks going from his left shoulder to the lower right of his abdomen. The area around the scars were red and slightly swollen. There were also large bruises on his sides.

"You call this _nothing?"_ Spinelli asked, shocked that the injuries.

"It not as bad as it looks. I've had way worse than this," He said, tracing the scars. "I've had ribs broken by one of those Wolves."

"Then why keep doing it if you're getting hurt?"

""cause I'd rather get hurt fighting them then someone _else_ get killed by them," He said. "This'll all go away by next weekend, don't worry. You'll barely notice this was ever there. I only got these because I didn't have anything to defend myself with."

"Then bring one with you! With scars like those, I'm gonna be up all night worrying that you're gonna get killed!"

"I'm not gonna get killed, Spinelli. It would take a lot more to take me out," He said confidently. "You'd be amazed at the amount of damage I can take before I get hurt."

"Well I don't want to find out how much. Just try to be careful, okay?" She asked.

"Okay, I'll be careful," He said. "So, um, can we do the thing, 'cause I'm really, really hungry."

"Yeah, yeah. So, um, how are we gonna do th—" She was interrupted by a pair of lips touching her own.

Less than a second later, a resounding _SMACK_ could be heard around the abandoned playground.

"Oww! That hurt, Spin!" TJ said. He cupped the part of his cheek that Spinelli hat slapped him. A red handprint showed the exact spot where she had hit.

"That what you get for thinking you can kiss me whenever you want!"

"…Okay, you're right. Sorry about that," He said. "So are you going to let me starve today for that?"

"No, because then I'll know you would be drinking animal blood instead," Spinelli said. "I'll do it, just close your eyes and wait." She watched as closed his eyes. She folded her arms and sighed. When did her life become this complicated? She was hoping that it wouldn't' get this bad until high school, like on TV, but life had other plans.

She turned to face him, and closed her eyes before pressing her lips to his. It was weird, the feeling that energy was slowly being sucked out of her. She could only describe it as being like when you spent the whole day outside playing and then you come inside and sit down for the first time in ten hours. It's like just had all this energy _five seconds ago_, but now you're realizing how tired you really are.

That wasn't to say that she was ready to pass out. Far from it. It was a bit refreshing to have excess energy taken away. She opened her eyes when she felt TJ pull away from her.

"How was that?" She asked.

"Great! I haven't eaten this much in a while," He said. "Thanks, Spin."

"No problem."

"What about you? You don't feel sick or anything, do you?"

"I'm a little dizzy, but I'm sure I'll be fine." Before she could finish her sentence, they both could hear the rest of the gang calling out for them, and their voiced getting louder as they approached the abandoned playground.

"You should probably get down before they ask why you're in a tree," TJ said.

"Are you really gonna stay out here?" She asked as she climbed down. "You're gonna get in trouble, and the guys are only gonna ask more questions. They might even come over to your house tomorrow or over the weekend."

"Yeah, you're right. Just, uh, stall them for a minute. I need to but the bandages back on," He said. He grabbed his shirt and jacket before climbing higher into the tree. He climbed out of sight just in time for the rest of the gang to not see him as they walked through the bushes.

"Did you find him, Spinelli?" Vince asked her.

"No, and I've looked everywhere around here!" She said. Above her, TJ was holding in a laugh as he wrapped the bandages around his chest. "Maybe he didn't come this way."

"We've already looked around the entire playground, _and_ the kindergartener's playpen," said Mikey.

"The only other explanation is that he left the school," Gretchen said. "And with his recent behavior, that's completely possible." Everyone's attention was brought to the tree that was closest to Spinelli. The branches rustled, and TJ climbed down (he would've preferred to _jump_, but that would raise even more suspicions).

"What's going on, guys?" He asked.

"Why were you in a tree, TJ?" Gus asked.

"I was just enjoying the view. The playground looks really different from up there. Anyway, shouldn't we be heading back? The bell's gonna ring any minute now…" He walked past them and headed towards the playground and school, but felts a hand on his shoulders before he could start walking through the bushes. "What?"

"You're sure everything's okay, TJ?" Gretchen asked. "You've been acting strange lately."

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said, nodding. "There's nothing to worry about, except that Ms. Finster is gonna yell at us if we get back to class after the bell rings." He shrugged her hand off his shoulder and continued walking.

ODAW

Spinelli didn't expect TJ show up that night, mostly because she told him to not go out and get himself killed. But knowing how strong-headed he could be some (most) times, she sat by her window, looking outside for any sign of him, or the sound of a motorbike being driven down the street. She didn't see anything except for the occasional car driving down the street.

She was about to turn away from her window and get ready for bed when a pebble hit her window. She opened it, ready to tell TJ to go home before she dragged him there when she didn't see anyone standing or sitting on the branch near her window.

"Spinelli!" She looked down to see everyone, minus TJ, standing in her yard.

"What are you guys doing out here?" She yelled as quietly as she could.

"We snuck out," said Vince. "Climb down!"

"What is with everyone makin' me climb out my window," She mumbled. She climbed onto the branch and slowly reached the ground. "What is it?"

"We're all worried about TJ," Mikey said.

"Gus thinks he might be moving," said Gretchen.

"In one of my old neighborhoods, there was this one kid who moved away without telling everybody," said Gus.

"Why couldn't you just call me instead of having me climb out my window?!" Spinelli yelled.

"Because we were going over to his house to ask him," said Vince. "That way he can't run from us when we ask. We thought you would want to come, too." It was then that Spinelli was beginning to internally panic. There was a chance that TJ _was _at home, and now, when he was supposed to be letting his injuries heal, he would have to deal with everyone's questioning, and he wouldn't have much of a choice to escape.

She was now beginning to hope that he had gone out tonight.

"So are you coming?" Vince asked her.

"…yeah, sure," She said. She began to lead them out of her backyard. "But I still think you guys are overreacting…"

"Oh, c'mon Spin. You have to be at least a little curious to why he's been acting weird."

They stopped walking when they heard a loud bang. They turned towards where the sound came from and saw a now heavily dented trashcan land in front of them. They heard a loud grumble, and then heavy footsteps before one of those Things walked from behind the nearest house.

They were all paralyzed in fear, too afraid to scream, hoping that if they don't move, then it wouldn't notice them.

Luck wasn't on their side. It spotted them before growling and running up to them, trapping them against a wooden fence. It raised a claw and was ready to strike, but it never came down. Instead, there was a loud metallic bang, and the monster fell back on its back, and didn't get up.

"…-w-what just h-happened?" Gus quietly asked. Then, a mysterious (except to Spinelli and Gretchen) figure holding a metal pipe cloaked in black landed in front of them. He turned to face them, and though his hood prevented them from seeing his face, they could easily see a pair of glowing red eyes. He then turned from them and approached the monster lying on the ground, and stabbed the bottom of the pipe through its skull, effectively killing it.

He pulled the pipe out of its head, walked to the sidewalk and pointed down the street.

"I think he wants us to go home," Gretchen said. "That sound like a really good idea."

"Thanks for saving us," said Mikey. The boy nodded, but continued to point down the street.

"Looks like we're gonna have to wait until tomorrow to talk to him," Vince said.

"Hey, can you walk us home? There might still be more of those things running around," Gus asked. "And, uh, you're really good at fighting them." He nodded, and walked down the sidewalk, clearly tired of waiting. The others quickly caught up with him.

"So what's your name?" Vince asked. He didn't get an answer, only a stare.

"You're not going to get an answer, Vince. I couldn't get him to talk when he and Spinelli showed up at my window a few weeks ago."

"You _know_ him?" Vince asked Spinelli. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think it was important! It's not like he's ever said anything to me," She defended. "He just showed up at my window one night."

"Shh," The boy hushed in his deep voice. "Quiet." He took her hand and continued walking. Everyone else let out a light chuckle.

"I think he likes you, Spinelli," said Gretchen.

"Yeah, right."

One by one, they reached each other's house. They said their thank yous to him for taking them home. The group got smaller and small until it was just Spinelli and TJ.

"Why aren't you wearing the necklace I gave you?" He asked, breaking the silence. He removed the hood and his voice went back to normal. "Those things wouldn't have tried to attack you guys if you had it on."

"It's not like I did it on purpose. I took it off before I took a shower and forgot to put it back on," She said. "And aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Would you rather have me resting or you and everyone else be dead?" He asked. "Besides, I have a weapon to defend myself with. You guys are lucky though. I almost didn't make it to save you. What did they want, anyways?"

"They wanted to go over to your house to ask you why you've been acting weird," She said when they headed to her house. "So you might want to come up with something. Or tell them about the whole being an incubus thing."

"I can't do that, Spin. It's too risky."

"Then you better come up with same excuse because they're coming over your house tomorrow."

"I'm not even going to be in the neighborhood tomorrow," He said. "I'm gonna go get a new hat and have my horns trimmed down. I'll be gone until sundown tomorrow, and most of Sunday too. Avoid them isn't going to be a problem."

"You owe me for dealing with all this."

"I'll bring you something back, promise."

* * *

**I hate how that ended, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. **

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

***Slowly contemplates writing a Pokemon AU sometime in the far far future***

**Writers block is a bitch, that's the only excuse I have for dropping of the face of the Earth. I'm working my way out of it, albeit slowly.**

* * *

If you would've told Spinelli that you enjoyed your Saturday watching cartoons, riding your bike, and going to the arcade, you would've ended that Saturday with a broken nose. Not one minute after 8 am, Vince, Gretchen, Mikey, and Gus showed up at her doorstep and dragged her out of her house, barely giving her enough time to change out of her pajamas.

Their enthusiasm for finding out what was wrong with TJ didn't wear off after their near death experience (which TJ had ironically saved them from). Spinelli knew it was a waste of time with him being in the depths of hell getting his horns trimmed or something like that, but she couldn't tell the others.

It was tempting around 3 o'clock when they had searched around the entire town and was about to look _again_. She just wanted to scream that _HE'S NOT THERE, HE'S NOT EVEN IN TOWN_, to them, but then they would've bombarded her with questions and she was angry enough. A bit of that anger was released when they managed to get onto the schools playground and, by some strange chance, Randall had threatened to snitch, she punched him good, leaving a very black and blue eye.

She was getting tired of the whole 'acting like you don't know anything when you really know something very very important' thing. By some strange miracle, the search was called off just as the sun started to go down (mostly because of what happened last night).

So when she went into her bedroom, she was surprised to find TJ sitting rather comfortably on her bed, horns, fangs, and red eyes fully exposed.

"What are you _doing_ in here?" She asked, shutting and locking her door. "My parents are home! What if they came in and saw you?"

"I would've heard their footsteps. Yours are lighter, even with the boots," He said. "So, how long were you out searching for me?"

"Since 8. Where's my present you owe me?" She asked. "It had better be something good!"

"It is, I promise." He stood of her bed and walked over to her. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands." She did, expecting something to drop into her hands. Instead she left something wrap around her fingers a few times before the same happened to her other hand. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Eager to find what was on her hands, she looked down and found a wrist wrap on her hands. The fabric was metallic red, and sparkled a bit in the light.

"What's this?"

"It's a special fabric I had woven for you. It makes your punches 10 times stronger," He explained. "And that's saying something, 'cause you punch hard already."

"Really? I wanna try this out!"

"Then punch something sturdy like a tree, or even me. You can probably knock down a wall wearing those," said TJ. "It's mostly for defense if you forget your necklace _again_, so don't go knocking out other kids wearing those. You might kill someone."

"So can we go ride on your motorbike, again? I need it after today."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Those things are coming out more and more. It'll be dangerous. Last night was a close call. I almost didn't hear what was going on. Are they all planning on searching for me tomorrow?"

"Yep. It would be great if you were here for that. But that's not going to happen, is it?"

"Sorry, I can't help you there. I have to go the doctors tomorrow. My back is killing me. I think my wings are starting to come in," He said. "I'm only going to be out for an hour tonight, and then I'm going bed. I'll try to make it back early tomorrow before the guys drive you crazy."

ODAW

When TJ had said he would try and be back early the following day, Spinelli thought that by early, he meant sometime before 12 pm. Like yesterday, she was dragged out, tossed on her bike, and (somewhat) forced to ride around town in search of a person who she knew the location of.

It was somewhat satisfying when she slammed the door in their face when they first arrived and walked into the kitchen because dammit she was going to EAT before going out. She looked out the kitchen window with a bored expression when they ran around and knocked on the window to try and get her attention.

That brief burst of satisfaction didn't last for long when she followed them around town.

Hours passed, and Spinelli looked and her watch as each hour passed. She became more and more aggravated when TJ didn't show up. Around 2, she thought about lying as saying that she wanted to practice boxing just to get away. Currently, they had just arrived at the lake, and they decided to take a break.

"It's like he's _trying _to hide from us," she heard Vince say. If only he knew. She stood on the edge of the wood walkway over the water. The rest of the gang was either sitting or skipping rocks to pass the time. She spotted one near her foot and picked it up. When she was about to swing, she heard a rock land in the water.

She knew that there was no way that it could've come behind her, so she looked up. On the side of the lake, she recognized the hill that TJ had brought her up to that one night.

He was currently lying on the top, and when he noticed that she noticed him, he waved. She waved back, wonder how long he had been there, and if he had been waiting for them all this time. She watched as he stood up, placed two fingers in his mouth, and let out a very loud, very high pitched whistle.

This got the attention of everyone else, who looked up and found the person they've been searching for sitting rather comfortably above them.

"C'mon, let's go before he leaves," Vince said. Everyone (minus Spinelli) followed him to their bikes and started to ride to the hill. When they reached near the top, they left their bikes leaning against a nearby tree and walked up the rocky part of the hill. He still laid there, eyes closed, completely not worried about the questions about to be asked of him. Or so it seemed.

"Hey, guys," he said opening his eyes. "What's going on?"

"We were about to ask you the same thing," Vince said. "Where have you been?"

"Out doing stuff. I've been up here for a couple of hours, though. What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you. We've been looking since yesterday! What's been up with you lately?"

"Nothing," TJ said. He stood up and stretched. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been avoiding us these days, TJ," Mikey said.

"It's like you don't want to be our friend anymore," Said Gus.

"No, that's not it. I love being friends with you guys," He said. He looked at Spinelli who was standing in the back and had an expression that said 'this is your problem now'. He scratched the back of his head and tried to think of an answer. "I just need a break."

"A break from what?" Gretchen asked.

"From the whole making plans and causing mayhem on the playground," He said. "It's exhausting after a while. I'll get back to it, but not right now."

"Then why couldn't you just tell us that and not have us running around town looking for you?" Spinelli said. She was more than comfortable sitting back and watching him answer the questions being asked of him, and only piped in for consistency.

"I guess I needed some space, too. But I'm fine now. I was heading to the arcade before I spotted you guys. Wanna come?" Everyone nodded and went to their bikes. They rode out of the forest and onto the street where they headed towards the arcade.

With it still being the weekend, the arcade was packed, but not claustrophobically so. Spinelli found herself at a fighting game, jamming the button and swinging the joystick in every direction, cursing the opponent for landing a hit. Everyone had split off for a game they each would like to play.

When the screen flashed LOSER, she kicked the machine and went to get another pocket-full of quarters. When she put in a five dollar bill, TJ peaked his head over the machine. The machine itself wasn't much taller than she was, making this a less than remarkable feat.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Spin?" He asked. "It's important."

"What's it about?" She asked, stuffing her pockets with the coins pouring out of the machine.

"I can't say here. We have to talk outside," He said. "Too many people that could hear us." She took the last of the quarters and followed him outside and to a back ally. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, just some homework."

"What time do you think you can be done by?"

"Probably by 8. What's with all the questions?"

"I'm gonna come to your room at around 10. We can go out tonight."

"Is that all you brought me back here to say, Teej?" She asked. "I almost thought you were starving to death."

"I was until everyone came up the hill. They must've been really worried about me."

"What was your first clue? Can we go back inside? I was _this_ close to beating the high score!"

Together, they walked back into the arcade before anyone could question where they went.

ODAW

After being sent upstairs to go to bed by her mother, Spinelli went through the rounds that would lead them to not think that anything unusual has been going on in her life. She sat on her bed with the bike helmet in her hands and the fabric that TJ had given her around her hands. She tossed it in the air and caught it to pass the time. It wasn't until 10:30 when she heard a taping at her window. She threw on a jacket before opening the window.

"You don't have to bring the helmet," He said. "You don't need it."

"Then where are we going?" She asked after putting the helmet in the top shelf in her closet. TJ helped her out the window and onto the ground.

"It's a surprise," He said. "That and the engine on my bike was blown out." They walked out of her back yard and in the opposite direction of where they usually went. Spinelli didn't think much of it, and brushed it off as TJ thinking it was safer without his bike. She didn't pay much attention until they approached the steps of the school.

"I hope breaking into the school doesn't freak you out," He said, picking the lock with a small sewing needle.

"Who breaks _into_ schools?" Spinelli asked.

"We are, right now. It's part of the surprise, and it's not like we're gonna get in trouble," TJ said. He pulled the needle out of the keyhole and opened the door. They walked through the halls, passing their classroom and the lunchroom. The emptiness and quiet in the hall was disturbingly eerie, an actually being able to hear their footsteps only added to that. They kept walking until they reached a janitors closet.

"Is this what you brought me to see? A door?" Spinelli asked.

"It's more than a door," He said. He pulled out a piece of chalk out of his pocket and drew a large circle on the door. He then drew a triangle inside the circle, and then another triangle upside down. The lines flashed red for less than a second, and the triangles slowly spun as the ground beneath them shook. When the shaking stopped and the shapes where upside down, TJ put his hand on the doorknob.

"Are you ready?" He asked her.

"Ready as I'll ever be. For what I don't know."

He opened the door, and there wasn't a mop, bucket, and that weird stuff janitors use to clean up vomit, but a long dark tunnel. Small pieces of gems were embedded in the wall and occasionally sparkled.

"How did you do that?" She asked. He lead the way, and she almost stumbled on the first step.

"A special trick, and special chalk. Watch your step. It doesn't look like it, but the road goes down," Said TJ. "I had to get to Hell someway."

They walked down the tunnel for what seemed to be an hour to Spinelli before coming up to was looked to be another door with red light coming through the edges.

"I'd take off that jacket if I were you," said TJ. "It's not like you'll be needing it." He pushed opened the door and Spinelli found out what he meant soon after.

It was _HOT._ Not 'it's one of those dog days of summer' hot, or 'why is it so fucking hot in winter' hot, but 'where's the nearest building with air conditioning because this is _barely_ tolerable,' hot.

Needless to say, she took of her jacket, along with her hat. If Spinelli wasn't so concerned about burning her feet, she would've taken her boots off, too.

"How does anyone live down here?" Spinelli asked. Not five stepped after following him did she start to sweat.

"It's not that hot to us," said TJ. "But's it's a little cooler in the city and even cooler in the school. That's where we're going. You see that really really really, big castle over there?" He pointed in the distance were a castle stood. Even from where they stood, it was gigantic. "That's school. It's not as far away as it looks."

"Who needs a school that big?"

"It has to be big. All the students live there," He said. "You should see my room! It's huge!" The two went down a flight of stone stairs. At the top, there was a small town filled with people (demons? Incubuses? Spinelli didn't know) sitting in front of them. A few people walking by glanced at her for a second before going on with what they were doing. "Just ignore them. They don't see a Human down here every day."

"Can we go to the castle now? I know it's not hot to you, but I'm dying of thirst, TJ."

"Right….if you let me carry you piggyback I could run and get there in a minute. Don't know how comfortable you would feel with that thoug—" He was cut off by Spinelli jumping onto his back without a word. "A warning would've been nice, Spin."

"Yeah, it would've been. Let's go before I pass out!"

TJ wrapped his arms around her legs so she wouldn't fall of and began to jog through the town. As the crowd became thinner, he speed up, and Spinelli held on to his shoulders. They passed through a large metal gate and a long flight of stairs before reaching a black stone bridge that lead to the castle. Spinelli looked over the edge of the bridge and saw what looked to be a playground on the side of the castle. It looked like there were other kids there, doing some sort of march, but she couldn't tell from the distance.

When he started to slow down, she looked forward and saw a large door being opened by guards. The moment they went through the doors, Spinelli felt a well-welcomed rush of cool air hit her in the face.

"Feeling better, Spin?" TJ asked. He stopped down before coming to a stop at a fountain.

"Much," She said, getting off his back. "Got any water?"

"The fountain," He said. He kneeled down in front of the fountain and leaned down just enough to drink the water. "It's clean, promise."

"Who drinks out of a fountain like that?" She mumbled to herself. From what she could see, TJ didn't have a problem with drinking it, but from her ten years of knowing him, he's always been a little weird, which was enough for concern. But it didn't look like she was going to get water any other way. She kneeled down next to the fountain and took and sip.

It wasn't half bad. More than that, it was good. Really good.

"I still don't get why it has to be in a fountain," She said. She followed him to a nearby elevator and stepped inside.

"Me neither. " The door to the elevator closed and they started to go up. The walk opposite of the wall was completely made of glass, giving them a view of a large room with rows of what looked like beds being occupied. "That's the nurses office."

"Looks more like a hospital to me," she said.

"It has to be that big. There's like a couple thousand students here," He said. "I have to go down there before we leave." When the elevator stopped and the door opened, they walked down the hall until they reached the third door on the left. TJ took a key out his pocket and unlocked the door.

"This is your _bedroom_?" Spinelli asked when the door was open. The room had to be at least the size of the cafeteria, and then some. The walls were dark like the rest of the castle, but the light made that barely noticeable. The bed was large enough to hold ten people with enough space left over for everyone to sit or lay down comfortable. A window was each side of the bed. Then there was that giant screen TV with piles of video games in front of it. Spinelli was sure that many video games didn't _exist_.

"Yeah. It's kinda small—"

"_SMALL?_ Teej, this room is the size of the cafeteria. It's probably the size of the gym!"

"I mean by standard down here. There's some rooms bigger," He said. "Stay right here. I gotta go change." He walked into another room, leaving Spinelli by herself.

She went to one of the windows and looked outside. From there, she got a much better view of the same group she saw going across the bridge. Everyone was practicing fighting techniques as a group. Stepping away from the window, she spotted a punching bag in the corner of her eye. She kicked it just to get an idea of how hard she would have to punch to make it move, and Spinelli could've sworn that she kicked a block of lead.

"Who needs a punching bag this hard?" She mumbled. She looked at the fabric wrapped around her hands. "TJ said this makes my punches stronger. " Wanting to test it out, she lightly punched the bag.

It moved, just a little, but it still moved. The same bag that felt like a giant lead brick moved when she punched it. She punched it again, this time harder, and it moved back even more. She kept punching it, impressed that it actually worked.

"Having fun there, Spin?" She turned and saw TJ coming up to her, now wearing a white t-shirt and gray shorts.

"Who needs a punching bag this hard?" she asked.

"Growing Demon boys," He said. "That's who. C'mon, we're going outside."

"I'm not goin' back in that heat!"

"It's not hot. It's air conditioned. Besides, it's not like you can stay in here. Humans aren't supposed to be down here without an escort with them." She followed him, not wanting to get in trouble in a place that she didn't know. After several long halls and a trip down a staircase that had to right to have as many steps as it did, the two were outside. It was still cool, just as TJ said it would be. One group of kids was heading inside, while another was arriving. TJ stopped and looked around before spotting a bench and leading the way to it. There was a girl wearing a white dress sitting on the bench. Spinelli was starting the noticed that most, if not all, of the girls there were wearing the same colored dress. She was handing out long, thin sticks to the kids passing her. She had to be at least a few years younger than the both of them.

"I thought you were taking the day off," TJ said to the girl.

"I am, but I'm not going to pass up a chance to watch people get their butts kicked," She said. "Who's your friend?"

"Spinelli, this is Amy. Amy, this is Spinelli, the one I told you about."

"You're not supposed to bring Humans down here," said Amy. She tossed him one of the sticks. "Shouldn't you be with the rest of your class?"

"I'm going, I'm going. Spinelli, stay with her, okay? She'll answer any questions and show you around. I have to go with my class," He said. "I'll be back in an hour." Spinelli watched him run off to a group standing under one of the high balance beams being brought out.

"So you're the Human he keeps talking about," Amy said. "Do you really beat up other kids?"

"Only when they deserve it," Said Spinelli. "What's it to you?"

"I'm just asking! He said you're really strong too, but I dunno what that means 'cause Humans are weak compared to Demons. You must be really strong for him to say anything about it."

"Good, 'cause I'm not weak!" Spinelli sat down on the bench next to her. "So what are they doing?"

"Body Control and Balance training to help them improve their strengths and cover their weaknesses," Said Amy. "Like TJ's left leg."

"What's wrong with his leg?"

"Nothing's wrong with his _leg_, it's just that he forgets to cover it. It's easy to trip him when fighting. Like right now." Spinelli looked up to see what she was talking about. She saw TJ getting his left foot kicked from under him right before he was able to land from a jump. As a result, he fell to the ground. He didn't stay on the ground for long before getting back up and climbing back onto the balance beam to try again.

"That looks like it hurt," Said Spinelli.

"Nah, he's fine. He'll be fine. The teachers won't let them hurt each other too bad," Amy said. From where they were sitting, they could see TJ pick himself up and climb back on the beam. Amy looked away from the renewed fight and at the higher levels of the castle. She spotted a dark figure standing in a window looking down at the fights taking place. "Didn't expect to see him here."

"Who?" Spinelli asked. She looked in the same direction Amy was and saw the same figure. "Who's that?"

"His dad. His real dad, not the one he lives with where you come from," said Amy. "He usually doesn't watch him train. Good thing, too. He's really strict and wants him to be the best out here like he was. He's not. I mean, he's actually an okay fighter, I guess, just not the best. I walked in on him yelling at TJ for keeping falling during training one time. He looked _afraid_ of him. I hope he doesn't come out here. He sorta pushes himself already to make his dad somewhat satisfied."

"It takes all the fun out of learning about something if there's someone _forcing _you to do it," Spinelli said. She remembered the time Mr. Dude had taught their class by turning the lesson into a game. It was much better than sitting there and listen to him drone on with the knowledge that she was going to be tested on it. No fun at all.

"Yeah. That's makes it a job and you don't want to do it," she said. "I think we might be distracting him. Let's go inside. I bet there's a lot of stuff he didn't show you yet." Amy got up from her seat, and Spinelli did the same. She followed her into the castles and up the long flight of stairs she was less than enthusiastic to climb again. Amy lead her down the opposite direction TJ had. Every now and then, they would pass another student who would give her weird looks before going along with their business. After walking for a few minutes, they reached a pair of metal double doors.

They walked through, and she saw the room lined with rows of beds, all perfectly straight. A few of them were being used by occupants who were sleeping, getting checked out by what looked to be doctors, or just lying around looking bored. Amy kept walking through the rows until they reached the very back. They stopped in front of bed being occupied by a boy around Spinelli's and TJ's age, if not a bit older. What was different from the others in the room was not that there was a metal collar around his neck with a chain connected to a nearby wall, but that this kid has a set of wings on his back, and looked like he was ready to attack the person who was dumb enough to come near his bed, like them.

He began to bare his teeth and his claws became more prominent. His eyes were completely red and he prepared to pounce and attack them, then Amy reached up and rubbed the base of his horns. He calmed down and relaxed right away. The kid gave a dopy smile before leaning into Amy's hands.

"TJ told me that his doctor told him that his wings were coming in soon. It'll help you and everyone around you if you know this trick. Just rub the area around his horns to calm him down. He's gonna want to attack anyone and everyone that comes to close."

"Couldn't he just wear his hat and wait until he comes down here?"

"No. It's gonna happen when it's gonna happen, regardless. His hat isn't capable of stalling the process," She said. "He'll give you warning though. Bad back, arm, and leg pain, mostly. Then he'll start to growl uncontrollably, you should probably get him away from everyone when his eyes turn red. Or before, 'cause he's going to roar sometime after that and then his wing with come in and he'll pass out for a minute." Amy looked under the bed, too a white bottle and gave it to Spinelli. "Rub that around where his wings grow of. It'll help the pain, and he's going to be in a lot of pain."

"He's not going to stay like that, right?" Spinelli asked. She looked back at the kid on the bed, who was now lying on his stomach, looking completely harmless.

"Nah, it's only for an hour or two. He'll be back to normal after that. The best way I can describe it is that the brain has to rest itself after suddenly having to control wings, and that it goes on autopilot for a while."

ODAW

For the next hour, Spinelli followed Amy around the castle. One of the notable rooms she was shown was one dedicated to storing only candy, which was twice as sweet as any candy she ever had. She didn't leave without a heat-proof bag full of it. She also made a mental note to have TJ bring her back to the room with the jungle gym whose size dwarfed Ol' Rusty.

The tour ended when they made their way back to TJ's room when someone gave Amy a ox to deliver on the same floor. She found herself leaning on the window, looking down at the area where everyone was training. Spinelli spotted TJ standing on the beam, along with another much taller person. This new person was throwing punch after punch and kick after kick, barely giving her friend anytime to dodge them, let along retaliate. She couldn't help but cringe when a swift kick was landed on the side of TJs face, causing him to fall off, luckily, or unluckily, there was no one around to witness it.

She watched as he struggled to get back on his feet and climb back on the beam. From what she could see, it looked as if the new person was yelling at him for falling off.

"Oh no," She heard Amy say when she came over and joined Spinelli. "He's gonna get murdered out there."

"You should've seen the way he was getting attacked by that guy."

"That's not just any guy. That's his dad, the person I was talking about before."

The both cringed when a punch was landed square on his chest, making him fall on his back. He man hopped off the beam and walked away, not bothering to look back. From their position, Spinelli couldn't get a good look at his face.

"What kind of dad does that to their kid?"

"One that wants their kid to be the best at everything," Amy answered. "If it makes you feel any better, he says that he's used to it."

"That doesn't help at all." She brought her attention back to the outside, where she saw TJ walk back into the building.

"He's probably on his way up here," Amy said. "I'm gonna go get the First-Aid Kit. I'll be right back." Spinelli nodded, and, when she left, gave the punching bag a swift punch. Who would do that for their kid just 'cause they wanted them to be the best at something? She only saw those two hits. How long had they been sparring? She fell back and landed on a nearby beanbag chair. She was tired, but wasn't sure she could sleep after seeing that.

"Tired, Spinelli?" She opened her eyes to see TJ standing over her. A line of dried blood over a cut was on the left side of his face. Despite this, he was doing his best to hide any sign of pain.

"Not as tired as you have to be," She said. She noticed the outline of a black eye beginning to form. "I saw what happened out there. Your dad's a jerk!"

"He can be pretty bad, but he's not that way all the time," He said. "He just wants me to be the best I can be."

"That's not an excuse. I wouldn't want to do anything after that!"

"It's fine, really. He didn't do any real damage," He said. When Amy returned with a first aid kit, he cleaned his cut and put several bandages over them. Closing the box, he noticed a large sack lying near Spinelli. "You went to the Candy room?"

"Yep. You could've brought some back home for us. We could've made money selling this on the playground."

"It's one of those things that I'm not really supposed to bring back home with me and share with other people. You can keep those, as long as you don't bring them to school or anything. And let me have some. Ready to go? We're taking the River Styx back to the entrance."

"Isn't that one of those Greek things Ms. Grotke tried to teach us about?"

"Yep."

ODAW

One long boat ride on a river of bubbling lava later, the pair found themselves in front of the door they arrived in. They walked through, and when they reached the end of the tunnel, it opened to inside the school again. When he closed the door, TJ wiped off the drawing on the door with his sleeve, leaving no signs of anything behind. He opened the door again, and they both saw that it was back to a regular janitor's closet

As they made their way home, Spinelli noticed a limp as TJ walked with her. She blamed on that jerk that sent him flying off the balance beam multiple times.

"You gonna stay home from school tomorrow?" She asked. He rubbed the back of his left shoulder and winced. "I would after getting beat up like that."

"Probably not. Don't want to raise suspensions after I just got rid of them, you know?"

"I'll bet money that you're gonna wake up covered in bruises," Spinelli said. "Good money, too."

"You're right, but I still have to go to school." They stopped walking when they reached Spinelli's how. He helped her climb into her window and made sure she was inside before heading home himself.


End file.
